The Guardians of Gotham
by Black Sector 5
Summary: In Gotham City, crime corruption, and vice are the norm. However the brave detectives of the Gotham City Police Department's Major Crimes Unit and the mysterious vigilante known as Batman are dedicated to stopping them. But as the threats continue to grow, Batman realizes he can't do things on his own anymore. He needs a team, he needs Guardians! (BEING REWRITTEN!)
1. Pilot: A Reagan in Gotham

In Gotham City, the worst kinds of criminals operate. However the brave detectives of the Gotham City Police Department's Major Crimes Unit and the mysterious vigilante known as Batman are dedicated to stopping them. These are their stories!

Author's Note: This is the start of an ambitious new project that will incorporate several new future stories from various T.V. shows and comic books into one single universe. These stories will contain characters and crossovers from Batman/D.C. Universe, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order LA, Law and Order, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Training Day, Chicago P.D, The Wire, LA Dragnet, Homicide: Life on the Street, Hitman, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, The Jormungand Anime Series, Castle, Dexter, NYPD Blue, Blue Bloods, The Shield, The Sopranos, Criminal Minds, X-Files, and the Predator vs Alien movies.

By the way, I don't own any of the characters in these stories, they are owned by DC Comics, or others. I don't own the pictures, either, I found them on the internet.

 **Pilot : A Reagan in Gotham**

 **Major Crimes Unit: The First Shift**

 **Location: Crime Alley, Park Row**

 **Time: 10:00 P.M.**

"That movie was awesome!" shouted the little kid as he and his parents walked through the trash littered alley.

"Tim!" admonished his mother, a young, fussy lady, "Don't shout, you'll wake somebody up!"

The boy's father chuckled, and laid a hand on his wife's shoulder, "Now honey," he chided, "Let the kid burn of some steam."

The woman sighed, "I know, but did we have to take this shortcut, it's so dark, you never know who could be out at this hour, remember what happened to the Wayne's."

The father shook his head annoyed. They had just got back from a late showing of the new Avenger's movie at the newly renovated Monarch Theater, and since their home wasn't too far away, he'd decided to take a shortcut home. The shortcut however was through Gotham City's notorious Crime Alley, where years earlier, Thomas and Martha Wayne, along with their young son Bruce had gone in only to be accosted by a mugger. The mugger had shot the two elder Wayne's, leaving Bruce the sole survivor and heir to the Wayne legacy. Bruce had since become something of a spoiled playboy, throwing lavish parties, donating to charities, and running Wayne Industries. But Gotham was a lot safer now than it had been all those years ago, nothing was going to happen this time. If they hurried, they could get home before anyone noticed.

His son ran ahead of them, "Come on guys, let's go!" the kid yelled as he dashed forward.

"Tim, don't run!" his mother said frantically.

But the kid didn't listen as he ran down Crime Alley, and bumped into the man who happened to be standing in their path. The kid fell the ground, and looked up, the pug faced man glared back down at him. His parents caught up to their son, and recoiled at the sight before them.

"Can we help you?" asked the father?

The man eyes snapped up, hungrily glaring at him. He was dressed in a ratty coat, and pub cap, and reeked of liquor and tobacco. "You can help me to your wallet." the man snarled, whipping out a revolver, the muzzle aimed at them.

The woman yelped and stepped backwards, only to bump into an even larger man, who put a switchblade to her neck. While the first man had distracted the family, two others had emerged from the shadows, surrounding them. "Here take the wallet." the father said, handing it to the man with the gun, "Just don't hurt my family.

The man smiled cruelly at him, "Should of thought of that before you decided to come into Crime Alley, look where you are standing." The family looked down to see the old crime scene tape that outlined where the Wayne's bodies had been found. "Time for history to repeat itself." snarled the gunman as he cocked his revolver's hammer.

He took aim, but as he was about to fire, something knocked the gun out of his hands. Before anyone could say anything, he was gone with a muffled yelp, as if the shadows themselves had consumed him. "IT'S THE BAT!" yelled one the other men as he fumbled around in his coat for another gun, but he didn't get the chance, as a black shadow appeared out of nowhere, and slammed into him with such a force that he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

The shadow turned to face the third man, who was shaking in fear _. He really is a demon_ , the man though to himself as soon as he saw him. He couldn't see anything, except a black cape, two long, bat like ears, and two white, narrowed, soulless eyes. "WHAT ARE YOU?" the man screamed!

The eyes narrowed even further, "I am your worst nightmare!" answered the sandpaper on glass voice of the creature.

The man screamed as he lunged forward with the knife, but it was no use. In the blink of an eye, the creature grabbed the man's knife hand, pulled him close, drove it's knee into his solar plexus, and finished him off with an armored elbow to the side of the head. The man slumped to the concrete, out cold. The creature turned to the family, who'd watched in awe, but where now wondering if they should be afraid themselves.

"You are safe now." the creature said, stepping into the moonlight. He was a man, a long black cape and cowl covering him like a cloak, his eyes white, soulless orbs, with two bat like earpieces on top the cowl, with his mouth and chin jutting out like an afterthought. He was wearing a grey, heavily armored, chest piece with a black bat insignia emblazoned on it, with a yellow utility belt filled with all sorts of gadgets and weapons, on his hands were two gauntlet like gloves with three razor sharp fins sticking out of them like knives, and his legs and boots were also heavily armored.

"It's Batman!" the kid yelled in excitement.

Gotham City's Dark Knight nodded, then reached into his belt and pulled out his Grapnel Gun. "Call the police." he said to the family, "Have them pick up this trash." He pointed the Grapnel Gun at the top of the building, and fired. The hook shot out, connecting solidly with something at the top, the tiny motor inside the Grapnel Gun activated, and the Batman was gone, his cape trailing behind him like wings.

The father followed Batman's instructions and called the police, telling them about what had just happened. Within moments, the cops had arrived and hauled the three terrified thugs off to jail, but the family's night wasn't done yet, a detective from Gotham's Major Crimes Unit that had arrived shortly after the patrol officers, wanted to talk to them.

"Now you said it was Batman who saved your lives, right?" said the Detective, a heavyset, unshaven man that stood at 5ft 10, with brown eyes, black hair, and a bulldog like face. He was dressed in a beige leather trench coat, brown fedora, a crooked red tie, brown pants, and stained white shirt.

"Yes sir." the father said still in awe over what had transpired, "He was amazing, took down those men like it was nothing!" The detective grunted and jotted that down on his notepad. "Did he threaten you in any kind of way?" he asked, fiddling with the toothpick hanging from his lip. "No, sir, not all, he saved us!" the woman exclaimed! "I see." the detective said grimly, "Well I guess that's just about it, you can go."

With that, the family walked away, heading for their home. "Still trying to get some dirt on the Bat, eh Harv." mocked one of the patrol men who'd been among the first to arrive.

Detective Harvey Bullock scowled, "Shut up smart ass, or I'll have you sent back to the academy."

The officer shut his mouth, but his partner didn't. "Hey Bullock, I hear you're getting a new partner tomorrow?"

"Yeah, what about it?" asked an annoyed Harvey.

"Well is it true that it's going to be Jamie Reagan from New York?" asked the officer.

Harvey sighed, and flicked his toothpick away, "Yeah, I guess so." he said.

The other officer snorted in disgust, "I can't wait for that NYPD prick to learn about Gotham the hard way, those guys always think they are some kind of big shots just because they are from New York." he said, "The Reagan's may be cop royalty in The Big Apple, but that don't mean a damn thing in this city."

Harvey just grunted in response before saying, "It's late, we got to get to the station before some wacko decides to try his luck on us, I got paperwork I've got to do believe it or not, and I don't want another reprimand from the captain about not doing it."

The two officers nodded in agreement and got into their squad car.

Harvey got into his car, and on the drive back to the station, he allowed himself to think about his soon to be partner. Normally he had no problems with partners, he'd always considered the Commissioner and Renee Montoya to be the best partners he'd ever had, Montoya was now at Homicide though with Detective Allen, not a bad pairing, he was a good cop. Another partner, Sonia Alcana, had potential, but she wasn't really a fan of his style of work, and had preferred to partner with Detective Stephens, which he had no problem with since Stephens was on the same squad and shift he was, and a friend. But this Reagan kid, from all accounts, was a Harvard grad, fresh off Patrol, and who'd never even set foot into Gotham City.

As bad as New York was, it was no Gotham City. He'd just gotten the news a couple of days ago from Gordon himself, and had immediately asked if his old partner, longtime friend, and boss, if he was joking, But unfortunately he wasn't. Gordon apparently was an old friend of the Reagan family, and had asked Reagan's dad, NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan, to transfer Jamie to Gotham's Major Crimes Unit. Gordon had told him that he was trying to bolster the GCPD's ranks by recruiting cops from other cities to fill their units. Harvey had just shaken his head in disbelief. He'd once worked a joint case with Jamie's older brother, Detective Danny Reagan, and needless to say, they hadn't exactly seen eye to on everything. He just hoped that his new partner, Danny's little brother, would be able to handle the way things had to be done at times in Gotham City.

 **Location: GCPD Headquarters, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 7:00 A.M. The Next Day**

Jamie Reagan, a brown haired man, with green eyes, a boyish face, and dressed in a gray suit, surveyed the scene around him. It was his first day as a GCPD Detective, and even though he'd been around cops his entire life, he was a little nervous. He'd been shocked when he was told by the NYPD Chief of Detectives that he was finally getting his shield, but it wasn't going to be an NYPD shield. No, it was going to be a GOTHAM FREAKING CITY shield.

Gotham, where it almost seemed like it was nighttime all the time. Gotham, whose crime rates were the butt of many jokes inside the NYPD. Gotham, where the police department was rumored to be so corrupt that when you needed the police, you didn't call 911, you waved a stack of bills on some street corner, and hoped a cop would notice. Not to mention the mysterious vigilante known as Batman. It was rumored that Commissioner Gordon had formed a secret alliance with this so called "Dark Knight."

Jamie honestly didn't know what to make of that if it was true. This vigilante/ metahuman phenomenon was actually a few years old now. With the appearance of Superman in Metropolis, Batman in Gotham, and more so called superheroes and villains in other cities, countries even, had caused major concerns within the police forces about the ability to handle these individuals.

These events, along with many others, were now forcing the police departments of America to advance quickly. After the public outing of the existence of aliens and metahumans, the FBI had sent one Fox Mulder to New York to work with his father on what was being called the Meta Human Response Squad. Mulder, known to his colleagues as "Spooky Mulder" had apparently been a big believer in aliens and the paranormal for years and had worked with Agent Dana Scully on the mysterious X-Files, which were now part of the general knowledge ever since Superman had gone public.

"You lost or something." came a sudden voice, shaking Jamie out his thoughts.

It was a uniform, a mustachioed Hispanic man, with green eyes. "No, actually I'm just looking for the Desk Sergeant, I am the new transfer." Jamie said rather lamely, since the desk sergeant was just few feet in front of him, he didn't want to tell the uniform what he'd really been thinking about.

The uniform looked at him as if he was stupid, "You call yourself a cop, he's right there amigo." he said pointing, then he turned and left, annoyed.

Jamie walked up to the desk sergeant, a fat, bored looking, old timer who didn't even notice him because his head was buried in a stack of papers." I am here to see Captain Sawyer in the MCU." said Jamie.

"Name?" asked the desk sergeant, who still didn't look up.

"Reagan." said the newcomer, "Jamie Reagan."

"What's your business with Sawyer?" asked the desk sergeant. "I am one of her new detectives." answered Jamie.

Now the desk sergeant looked up, his eyes widened in realization, "Reagan, as in Frank Reagan's kid?" asked the desk sergeant.

"Apparently so." came an Italian accented voice from behind Jamie. Jamie turned around, and standing before him with a toothpick in his teeth, wearing his signature beige leather trench coat and fedora was Harvey Bullock.

"Bullock." said the desk sergeant, "What are you doing down here?"

"The Commish and Sawyer sent me to pick up the new meat." answered Bullock, "Apparently he's my new partner."

"They are partnering him with you." said the desk sergeant incredulously. He looked at Jamie sympathetically, "I don't envy you, pal." he said, "Good luck." With that, the desk sergeant went back to his work.

"Come on kid." said Bullock, "Lets go meet the Captain."

Jamie followed Harvey to the elevator. "Wait, who are you again?" asked Jamie.

Harvey gave him an annoyed glance, "Bullock, Harvey Bullock, GCPD Detective."

Jamie's eyes widened in astonishment, "The Harvey Bullock?" he asked again.

"Look kid." growled Harvey, "Unless you know another guy with my name, then yes I am The Harvey Bullock, any more stupid questions?"

Jamie couldn't believe it, he'd heard stories about Detective Bullock. His brother, and father knew him, said he was a good cop with a bad attitude. From the looks of it, their descriptions were pretty spot on.

They arrived at the 6th floor, "Detective Jamie Reagan." said Harvey as he led Jamie in, "Welcome to the Major Crimes Unit." The Major Crimes Unit, which specialized in high profile murders, organized crime, and assisted the Narcotics Division with drug traffickers, was a busy place for sure. Phones were ringing, while detectives were rushing around going about their business.

"This way Reagan." ordered Harvey, as Jamie looked around at what was going on. He led Reagan to an office door marked **MAGGIE SAWYER** , it was the captain's office. They entered, and waiting for them was Captain Maggie Sawyer.

Sawyer, a woman of medium height with short blond hair, and green eyes, looked at them critically. She was known for a no nonsense approach, and ran a tight ship. She was dressed in a red shirt, jeans, and a brown jacket.

"You're late Harvey." she said.

Harvey flashed her a lopsided grin, "Give a guy a break." he said, "You how long it took me to find this kid."

Sawyer looked at Jamie, she offered her hand. "Maggie Sawyer." she said, "Major Crime Unit, heard a lot of good things about you, Reagan."

Jamie shook her hand, "It's an honor to be here." he said.

Harvey smirked behind him. Captain Sawyer noticed this, "Something funny, Harvey?" she asked?

Harvey took the toothpick out of his mouth and flicked it into a nearby wastebasket, "No, nothings funny in this city." he said.

Sawyer just shook her head, "If you don't know already, you'll be partnered with Detective Bullock here." she said to Jamie, "He will introduce you to MCU's other detectives, and he'll also take you to the Commissioner."

"I will?" asked Harvey?

"Yes." said Sawyer sternly, "You will, that a problem Detective?"

Harvey scowled, but shook his head no.

"Good." said Sawyer, "Now get out my office."

"Come on Reagan." said Harvey as he lead Jamie out of the captain's office.

"Hey Harv." came a voice as soon as they walked out, "Whose the new guy?"

The voice's owner was shorter than Harvey, but taller than Jamie, with brownish blond hair, green eyes, and was dressed in a brown suit and white shirt.

Harvey smiled grimly, "Jamie Reagan, meet Gerard Stephens, one of the fellow detectives Sawyer mentioned."

"Reagan?" said Gerard as he walked over to them, "Your Danny Reagan's brother."

"Yeah, do you know Danny?" asked Jamie?

Gerard grinned at him, "Me, Harvey, and my partner Sonia worked a joint case with him a while back." he said, "He's a good cop, though he said you went to Harvard."

"I got my degree, but I decided to join the family business." said Jamie.

"Smart man." said Gerard.

"A cop with a law degree, I thought only the Feds had those." came a female voice from behind Gerard.

"I guess times are changing, Sonia." said Gerard, "This my partner, Detective Sonia Alcana."

Sonia smiled, "Pleasure to meet you, Reagan."

Sonia had short brown hair, brown eyes, and was dressed in a black shirt, brown skirt, and was wearing a shoulder gun holster under her arm.

Jamie smiled back, "So what is it you guys do here in Major Crimes?" he asked?

"We deal with high profile cases." answered Harvey, "Like Mob guys, serial killers, and super villains, we also assist Narcotics and Homicide in their cases."

"What about the Batman?" asked Jamie, "Aren't you guys supposed to take care of him."

"The Batman is actually a big help in our investigations." said Gerard, "We use the Signal to call him when we need his help."

"I think Gordon and Batman are sort of friends." said Sonia, "Why else would Gordon give him cases personally."

Harvey snorted disdain, "I think he is a freak in a mask that needs to be brought in."

"Here we go again." said an annoyed Gerard, "Your just mad because Batman brings in more criminals than you do."

Harvey's face turned red, "No," he snarled, "He is a freak, just like The Joker, just like The Scarecrow."

"Guys, cool it." said Jamie, sensing he'd struck a nerve, "I was just asking."

Harvey calmed down a little, "Despite my personal opinions of that winged freak." he said, "Gordon says that he does serve a purpose, so I will go along, for now."

Sonia just shook her head, "Anyway, I heard that the Commish was waiting for you two in his office." she said, "Best not to keep him waiting."

Harvey nodded his head, "Come on, lets go." "Nice meeting you guys." said Jamie as he followed Harvey.

Gerard and Sonia watched them leave, "I hope Gordon knows what he is doing be having Reagan partner up with Harvey." said Gerard.

"Hey I was partnered with Bullock once." said Sonia, "It wasn't that bad, Harvey's just a little intense at times."

Gerard laughed, "The Harvard Grad, partnered with the guy that has the most excessive force complaints out of the entire force, this should be funny to watch."

 **Commissioner's Office**

Commissioner James Gordon looked over the skylight of Gotham City through his office window, and frowned. It looked so peaceful, but he'd been a cop in Gotham long enough to know that it was just the calm before the storm, something was bound to happen. Whether it be Joker escaping from Arkham Asylum, and gassing civilians with his lethal brand of "Happy Gas," to gun violence between Falcone and Maroni, something bad was always going down in the recently voted "Scariest City in America" by the New York Times. Gordon had called his old friend Frank about that scathing article, but their was nothing he could do.

The sad thing was, Gordon actually agreed with the article. He'd seen enough crap in this city, that he was surprised his hair hadn't turned completely white just yet. He looked into his reflection in the mirror. Well, he still had a few more years to go before it was completely white, or maybe the next crime scene would be so horrible, that he might have to consider using Just For Men to give the appearance that he wasn't as old as he looked. Even though he was the commissioner he still like to go out and investigate crime scenes personally. He was still a detective at heart, and had no patience for politics.

Gordon frowned in disgust when he thought about the corruption in his city. There where cops currently on the force, like his old partner, Lt. Arnold Flass in Narcotics, whom he'd love to be rid of. Unfortunately, Flass had the support of the corrupt mayor, Hamilton Hill, who was always looking for an excuse to fire Gordon, and who Gordon had a personal distaste for. Hill and Flass were also in the pockets of Gotham's most notorious crime boss, Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. Falcone wasn't the only one. There were his rivals, Salvatore Maroni, Arnold Stromwell, Sal Valestra, Rupert Thorne, Black Mask, Tobias Whale, Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot, and many others. Everyday, it seemed they flooded the city with drugs, guns, and violence.

There had however been one saving grace throughout this entire mess, The Batman. Gordon still remembered laying eyes for the first time on the cloaked vigilante. He'd just been a Sergeant at the time, partnered with Flass. At first he'd been ordered by the former commissioner, Gillian Loeb, to hunt down the Bat. But Gordon had secretly admired his work, and had formed an alliance with him, and Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent. They'd formed a pact to rid Gotham of crime, and the alliance lasted. The unfortunate side effect was that after Batman's appearance, the criminals started putting on costumes as well. Hence the reason the police now had to deal with the likes of The Joker, The Scarecrow, The Riddler, and The Mad Hatter.

Their was a sharp knock at his office door. He took a deep breath, and stood up. Gordon was a tall man, with graying red hair and mustache, glasses over deep brown eyes, and was dressed in a suit, with a tan trench coat, that hid his holstered service revolver.

"Enter." he said. The door opened, and in walked Harvey and Jamie. When he'd decided to start recruiting from other police departments, he'd immediately started with Jamie. He'd looked over the kids file, and was impressed with his work on Patrol, he'd make an excellent GCPD Major Crimes detective.

"You wanted to see us Jimbo?" asked Harvey? Gordon nodded, "Sit down." he said. Harvey and Jamie sat down in the two chairs facing Gordon's desk. Gordon's office was an impressive sight, details of his past cases where on the walls, and there were files and papers stacked everywhere. This signaled to Jamie that Gordon was no bureaucrat, but a hands on commander.

"I looked over you file, Mr. Reagan." said Gordon, "Your just the kind of cop that the MCU needs, you see I was the one that called Frank about you."

"You know my father?" asked Jamie?

Gordon nodded, "I've known Frank Reagan for years, one the best cops I've ever had the pleasure of working with." Gordon stood up and walked over to his office window overlooking Gotham City, "Before I became PC, this city was in the gutter." said Gordon, "Most of the cops were on the take, and crime lords ruled with an iron fist."

Harvey nodded in agreement, "Those days were tough." he said, "Almost everybody was doing something illegal."

"So what happened?" asked Jamie.

Gordon smiled, "We got lucky," he said, "But enough talk about the dark days, you are among the first of new detectives that I am adding to MCU, in the upcoming weeks, more cops are getting transferred here."

"Great." said Harvey sarcastically, "More rookies for me to train."

Gordon ignored that remark, he picked up a briefcase, and handed it to Jamie. "Your shield, and piece is in that case." he said, "You and Harvey will assist Homicide in any case they call in, you will also help Harv in any current case that he is working, that it is all for now, get to work."

Harvey and Jamie both nodded, and exited Gordon's office.

"So what do we do?" asked Jamie, "Sit and wait for the phone to ring?"

Harvey snorted, "Not my style, kid, I've been looking into a few things here and there, so your riding along with me today."

"So whatcha looking into?" asked Jamie "I'll tell you in the car." answered Harvey, "But first, I'm getting a donut, I am starving."

Jamie followed his partner, and watched as he grabbed a glazed sprinkled donut, and took a huge bite, getting some of it on shirt. Given his new partner's size, Jamie couldn't help but wonder if maybe Harvey should lay off the donuts. Of course he'd never mention that to him personally, at least not yet. Remembering the case Gordon had given him, Jamie opened it to find a gold GCPD detectives badge, and a Glock 17 pistol with a hip holster, a couple pairs of handcuffs, and some extra ammunition. Jamie hung the badge on a chain around his neck, it was a perfect fit. He holstered his weapon to his belt, and stuck the handcuffs in his pocket.

"What're you waiting on kid, The Joker's next massacre." called an annoyed Harvey who'd been watching Jamie while cleaning his teeth with another toothpick, "Let's go Reagan!"

Jamie sighed in irritation, "Alright, I am coming." He followed his partner who was already in the elevator, taking note the fact that despite his size, Harvey Bullock was pretty quick when he wanted to be.

 **Location: Wayne Tower, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 11:00**

"Our stocks went up well beyond our expectations this week." said Lucius Fox as he walked in a circle around the large table in the Wayne Enterprises board room. It was the daily executives meeting that had been going ever since Bruce Wayne had reappeared six years ago and taken back control of the company. Lucius, an African American man of average height, with graying hair, mustache, and glasses was the CEO of both Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation. He'd always been something of a mechanical genius, quickly heading up the Applied Sciences Division, until Bruce had made him the CEO. As he continued talking, Lucius couldn't help but notice in the back that the owner of the company, his boss, and his friend, was not only not engaged in the meeting, but was leaned back in his chair, with his eyes closed, out cold.

"I think it's best we adjourn for the day." he said with a polite smile. The other board members nodded, for they too had noticed Bruce's apparent lack of interest.

"This is embarrassing." one of them muttered as they all got up and filed out one by one.

"Late night?" Lucius asked as he approached Bruce in the back.

Bruce's eyes popped open, "Stopped a robbery in Crime Alley last night." he said grimly as he stood up and made his way to the private elevator that led to his office.

"Oh, I see, well is that all?" asked a puzzled Lucius, normally Bruce had a lot more to say about his "nightly escapades" as Alfred called them, than this.

Bruce's blue eyes narrowed in concentration. He was a tall, handsome man, with jet black hair, and a strong chin. But few knew that he was also the mysterious vigilante known as Batman. When his parents had been gunned down in Crime Alley all those years ago, he'd made a vow that he would fight the evil that had taken them. So he'd traveled the world, learning everything he could about fighting techniques, criminology, interrogation, and unseen movement. These skills made his body a living weapon, and his mind made him a master detective. His first night out on the streets however, hadn't gone too well. The criminals hadn't been as intimidated as he would of liked, and despite his fighting skills, he had taken a pretty bad beating. So that night as he sat bleeding in his mansion, a bat had crashed through the window, and his inspiration for Batman came alive. He been at it for six years, and had encountered everything from psychopathic maniacs like The Joker, to all powerful gangsters like Carmine Falcone.

"It was pretty quiet last night." Bruce said bitterly, "Too quiet."

The elevator finally reached his office. "Well I would hope that means you are making a difference." said Lucius.

Lucius was one of the few who knew Bruce's secret, in fact Lucius had helped Bruce build most of the gadgets and weapons that Batman used in his war on crime. Bruce hurried to the bookcase in towards the back of his office, "With Joker locked in Arkham for the time being, Falcone, Maroni, Penguin, and the others will be looking to take back control of their turf, which means they are planning something, I need to be ready, if anyone asks, I left early, tell them Alfred needed some help around Wayne Manor."

"As you wish Mr. Wayne." sighed Lucius. "Oh, and Lucius, one more thing." said Bruce as Lucius turned to leave; he pulled a file from his desk, "I wanted you take a look at an idea that I've been working on, a new modification to the Batmobile, tell what you think?"

Lucius looked at for a few seconds, "I'll get started right away." he said with a smile. "Thank you, Lucius." Bruce smiled back.

He turned back to the bookcase, presses a button on "The _Lord of the Flies_ " spine, and panel right next to the bookcase slid open, revealing a secret room. Bruce entered and closed the door, behind him. The room was his Batcave at the Wayne Enterprises complex, and while it didn't have everything the main one had, it had just enough for him to get some work done, ironically while at work. The room had a workbench on one side of the room, a suit containment center on the other side, and towards the center a large Batcomputer. Bruce sat down at it, typed in his password, and got started. In his last attack, Joker had imprisoned all of Gotham's crime lords in Arkham, and had taken over their respective turfs.

Dubbing himself, "The Clownfather of Gotham" he'd set himself up as the sole ruler of Gotham's organized crime, and had instituted a reign of terror on the streets of Gotham by releasing the more insane inmates of Arkham on Gotham's citizens. Batman and the GCPD had successfully stopped him, locking him back into Arkham in the process, but the trouble was far from over. Some the street crews had liked The Joker's more chaotic style opposed to more strict ways of Falcone and Penguin, and were now refusing to follow their former bosses. A few were even trying to start their own operations. Also other top players like Maroni, were hoping to use this situation to grab more territory for themselves, since it had yet to be redivided in the aftermath of Joker's rampage.

Bruce looked at the names he had before him on the computer screen: Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni, Penguin, Black Mask, Sal Valestra, and others all had a good shot at becoming top gangster, but the lack of activity last night had represented a sort of halt in business. What that meant to him was that the bosses had suspended all criminal activity until this turf situation could settled. The unknowns of this situation had him troubled. With so much uncertainty of who was actually in control, it was rumored that outsiders from other cities, even other countries, were looking to cash in, but which ones. Bruce brought up a few more names, names that previously hadn't operated in Gotham before. Intergang was one possibility. The notorious Metropolis syndicate, led by Bruno "Ugly" Manneheim, were known for branching out of their home city for the occasional business venture, maybe they would finally decide to look into Gotham?

Another possibility was the Soprano Crime Family, led by Tony Soprano. Soprano was a feared and respected gangster in the state of New Jersey, and had collaborated with both Falcone and Maroni on joint ventures before outside of Gotham. There was also rumor on the streets that the Escabedo Cartel in Mexico was looking into taking over Gotham's drug trade, which wouldn't go down well with the established dealers like Skeevers and Whale. Bruce brought up another photo, this one had been taken a few days ago at the Gotham National Airport. It showed a dark haired woman, with brown eyes, and a cold expression that looked as if it had been chiseled there. Her name was Diro Kesakhian, the head of the Kesakhian Armenian Mob Family. She had previously been set up in Los Angeles, before fleeing to Germany to escape her rivals. But this photo all but proved his theory that outsiders were looking to take control of Gotham's underworld, but he still didn't how and when.

Bruce went at it for a good three hours, before deciding to call it quits, and head home. _Maybe_ _tonight's patrol will yield better results_. he thought to himself, or maybe he should go talk to Jim. Jim Gordon had been one of his biggest supporters since he'd started. He'd become a close confidant, and loyal friend. He, Jim, and Gotham DA Harvey Dent had formed a pact that together, they would rid Gotham City of organized crime. Gordon had even established a Bat Signal on the top of the GCPD headquarters to call him in case of emergencies. His only problem with Gordon however was his continued insistence that he work with his detectives on cases, and that he share evidence. But he just wasn't sure he could trust them.

Some them were fine, but others like Harvey Bullock and Melody McKenna he had a problem with. McKenna was just disrespectful and obviously nursed a grudge against him for reasons that had yet to be explained, but Bullock was another story. When Batman had started, Bullock had been among the many detectives he'd suspected of being dirty. Despite Gordon's insistence that he wasn't, Bruce still couldn't look at Bullock without a hint of suspicion, or maybe he was just being paranoid. Superman had once told him that. From all accounts now, Bullock was being partnered with the son of the NYPD commissioner. Bruce had already looked at Jamie Reagan's file, and couldn't anything on it that would suggest he was a bad cop. When he'd asked Gordon why, Gordon had shrugged and said that he wanted the kid to be partnered with the best. Bruce guessed it made since for Gordon to be so high on Bullock. After all they were former partners, and the loyalty between cops was legendary So was Gordon right? Should he start working with the Detectives, even if that meant working with Bullock?

 **Location: The Stacked Deck, Gotham Docks**

 **Time: 2:05 P.M**.

"So are you going to tell me what were doing, or am I going to have to guess?" asked an irritated Jamie as Harvey drove down the streets of Gotham in an unmarked tan squad car.

Harvey took the toothpick out of his mouth, and flung it out the window. "Just waiting for you to ask, but I was hoping you might ask a little nicer if you want me to tell you what I am working on." he said sarcastically.

Jamie's cheeks flushed angrily, "Look." he said, "I know that you think I am some entitled New York cop, with a daddy as a hook, but I am not, I worked hard to get were I am at, I just want you to give me the benefit of the doubt."

Harvey looked at him critically, and seemed to think about it for a minute. "Fine." he said, "But you follow my lead, got it, we do things my way."

Jamie nodded his head, but secretly he knew that Harvey's way would probably land him in Internal Affairs jeopardy. But if he wanted the crusty, rugged detective to trust him, he needed to assure him that he would follow along.

"Are you aware of what happened with the last Joker incident?" asked Harvey?

"You mean with him taking over the underworld, and releasing the Arkham inmates, yeah I read the report." answered Jamie.

He had read about the horrific exploits of that clown themed madman and was glad that he was Gotham's problem and not New York's at the time. Of course since he was GCPD now, The Joker had now become his problem.

"Well in the aftermath of his rampage, there is now an air of uncertainty over who is really in control of the rackets." said Harvey as he swerved around a corner.

"You mean nobody knows who exactly is in charge now?" asked Jamie?

"Exactly." answered Harvey with a nod of his head, "Creates quite a compelling situation now doesn't it."

"It could lead to a gang war." said Jamie solemnly.

"That's not the worst part." said Harvey, "There are unconfirmed rumors on the streets that outsiders are considering Gotham as a potential place to stake their claim and force the previous bosses out."

"We can't let that happen!" exclaimed Jamie, what he'd gotten himself into?

Harvey looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Calm down kid, I might just be able to put a can on this, but I need to go talk to this CI of mine, he's usually got his ear down to the ground on things like this."

"Good idea." nodded Jamie.

They drove in silence for a few more minutes until they arrived at Gotham Docks, a dingy, smelly place, that had noisy fishing trawlers entering and exiting it. Harvey parked in front of what was probably the nicest building on the entire block, though nice would be stretching it. It was a bar, with gray, tobacco stained walls, and large, dirty, windows covered it. It was called "The Stacked Deck."

"My informant likes to wet his whistle here." said Harvey, "But be careful, a lot of thugs are in there, and they don't care if your a cop."

Jamie nodded his head, and followed Harvey into the bar. Inside their was no music, just the whispers of hushed conversations, laughter at jokes, the clack of billiard balls, and the strong smell of liquor as it was downed one shot after another. The patrons, were all tall, rough looking men, dressed in weird mismatches of denim and leather. They were all busy downing beers, playing poker, shooting pool, and talking amongst themselves in hushed tones. Luckily for the two detectives, they were too busy with their activities to notice them.

The bar itself was actually a lot better looking on the inside, than the out. A large counter with a an even larger bartender stood at the back handing out drinks, while booths, poker tables, and big wooden chairs dotted the place. The pool tables were the main sources of entertainment here, where the street toughs and bikers would gather to place bets on games in weekly tournaments. The other source of entertainment was the large screen T.V. that broadcasted horse races and football games. More opportunities for people to indulge in their gambling addictions.

Harvey pointed to the booth farthest to the back, "There is my informant, but I must apologized for anything he says." he warned.

"What do you mean?" asked Jamie curious.

"Well if you think that I am rude, then this guy is me times ten." said Harvey.

They walked toward the booth, avoiding the stares of some of the men, who looked at them suspiciously.

"Hey Vic." said Harvey, "What do you have for me this time?"

The informant, Vic, looked up from his beer, "What makes you think I got something for you, Harv." he said sarcastically, "And who's the new guy?"

Jamie gave Vic a look over. He was tall, built like a tank, with a bald head, green eyes, a thick Boston accent, and was dressed in a black leather jacket, jeans, and a black shirt. Jamie couldn't also help but notice, a certain haunted look in his eyes, regret almost, but Jamie was too polite to ask.

"This is Jamie Reagan, my new partner." said Harvey.

Vic looked at Jamie, a sly grin on his face, "So you're the NYPD prince that I have been hearing Harvey bitching and moaning about." he laughed, "So, you enjoying the piss hole that is Gotham City, I bet it's a step down from what you're used to."

Jamie frowned, unsure of how to respond, but luckily he didn't have to.

"Stop picking on my partner, and tell me what you have, asshole!" demanded Harvey, "I don't like having my time wasted, and if you're going to call me to say you have information, then I expect you to have it!"

Vic took another swig of his beer, and grinned at them again, "Well, you know I can't tell you how I got it." he said, "But there is a rumor that Tony Soprano was spotted in Gotham yesterday, he was talking to some of the crew leaders in Little Italy."

"Soprano." said Harvey, his eyebrows raised incredulously, "That's not good, that guy is a powerhouse in the underworld."

Jamie was stunned too. Soprano was responsible for a bloody Mob War between the Soprano and Lupertazzi Crime Families that had left a string of dead bodies in New York. His brother had worked a few of them, and had come to the conclusion that Soprano had ordered the hits, but he just couldn't prove it.

"I guess it's true that outsiders are moving in to claim the Falcone's and the Maroni's turfs." remarked Vic.

"Not mention that Armenian Boss Diro Kesakhian was spotted at the airport recently, but disappeared before we could move in." said Harvey grimly.

Vic choked on his beer as soon Harvey said the words "Diro Kesakhian." "Diro is in Gotham?" he said in a very surprised voice, his face contorting into a vicious snarl.

Harvey and Jamie were stunned by Vic's reaction. "That mean something to you?" asked Jamie.

Vic's snarl turned to him, "No, just surprised that's all." said Vic, "Pleasure meeting you, Detective Reagan, now if you'll excuse me."

Vic got out of his booth, laid his tab on the bar, and exited out the back.

"Who's this guy again?" asked Jamie.

"Vic Mackey." said Harvey, "Just appeared and offered me his services a few years ago."

"He sure is a strange one." remarked Jamie, "Do you trust him?"

"Trust is hard to come by in this city, kid." shrugged Harvey, "But his intel has been good so far, so I don't ask how he got it."

Jamie just shook his head, something about Vic Mackey just didn't seem right. It was that look in his eyes, it was almost animalistic, and yet at the same time cold and calculating, and smart too. Suddenly, Harvey's phone began buzzing. "Bullock!" he spat into the receiver as soon as he answered it.

He listened for a few minutes, "We'll be right there." he said and then hung up. He looked at Jamie, "Well kid, looks like we got a homicide in The Bowery, and by the looks of it, it ain't pretty." He said darkly, then he chuckled, "I hope you ain't squeamish."

He laughed, then got up to leave. Jamie followed, wondering what was waiting for them in The Bowery.

 **Location: Motel 76, The Bowery, The East End**

 **Time: 4:45 P.M**.

"I guess I owe you ten bucks, Montoya." remarked a wide eyed Detective Crispus Allen, "After all these years, Gotham City has officially surprised me again."

Despite her partner's attempt to make light of the situation, Detective Renee Montoya just frowned, "The pleasure is not mine." she said glumly.

The two homicide detectives had been called by an anonymous 911 caller, about a body in one of the rooms of the long abandoned Motel 76 in The Bowery. When Patrol had gotten there, they'd called Homicide _and_ the Major Crimes Unit immediately. When Montoya and Allen had arrived, they had understood way, this case had Red Ball written all over it. A Red Ball was when a case was bound to spark major media coverage, and since Gotham had people like Batman and The Joker running around, it was happening more and more lately.

The body in question was that of a boy, in his early teens by the look of it. He was found tied to a chair, stripped naked, and had been brutally stabbed to death and disemboweled. The thing that was the most noticeable however was what had been done to his face, or what had actually been smeared on it. White clown paint, on his cheeks, nose, and eyes, with red lipstick to finish the job, the killer obviously had some sort of sick obsession with Gotham's number one supervillain.

"Got a name?" asked Cris of one the uniformed officers who'd first arrived at the scene.

The uniform, a shaken rookie, quickly shook his head no. "We sssssearched, bbbbbut didn't find anything." he stammered.

"I see." said Cris with a frown.

He turned and looked at the scene around him. The Bowery of the East End was one the worst areas in Gotham City, a place where all sorts of crime flourished. The motel had been abandoned for years after numerous reports of rats, and improper sanitary conditions, but it was now used as a place for addicts to got get high. This obviously wasn't drug related however, unless the perp was on Scarecrow's fear gas, which would've explained a lot actually.

Cris, a tall, African American man, with brown eyes, a goatee, and was dressed in green suit had been a cop for almost thirty years, serving in both the Major Crimes and Homicide Units. His younger partner Montoya, a shorter, Hispanic American woman, with brown eyes and black hair, and dressed in a black shirt and brown pants, had served in the GCPD in her whole career and had also served in the Major Crimes Unit. The both of them had become quite the team, closing many cases together, almost as many as Renee and her old partner Bullock had.

Renee stretched her plastic gloved hand, and grabbed the body's wrist, "Rigor hasn't set in yet." she said, "He ain't been dead long."

"I think the fresh blood could tell that." said Cris, pointing at the still wet blood that was splattered all over the floor and walls. "We'll have to let Dr. Fields get him on the table to know more, but I think he was stabbed first, then mutilated." said Cris.

Renee nodded in agreement, "He was also tortured, some these cuts look pre mortem, the face paint as well." she said as matter of fact.

"Detective Montoya." called one of the uniforms, "Detective Allen, two MCU detectives are here."

"Send them in here." ordered Cris.

A moment later, Harvey and Jamie walked to inspect the carnage. "Damn, someone really went to town on him." remarked Harvey as soon as he laid eyes on the body.

"Still as considerate as always Harv." said Montoya with a smirk.

Harvey smiled back at his old partner, "Hey Renee, Cris, how are things at Homicide these days."

"Same old, same old." remarked Cris, he turned to Jamie, "So this is your new partner."

Jamie stuck out his hand, "Jamie Reagan, from New York."

"Well met." replied Cris, "I am Crispus Allen, but you may call me Cris, and this is my partner, Renee Montoya."

"Pleasure to meet you Reagan, heard a lot of good things about you from your brother." said Renee shaking his hand.

"So tell me." said Harvey, who'd been staring at the body, scratching the brim of his hat, "What am I looking at here?"

"Anonymous 911 called it in." said Cris, "Victim is white, with brown hair, has no ID, and no clothes, but if I were to guess, I would say he is about 14."

"Doesn't look to any sign of struggle." pointed out Jamie, "Despite the blood smears, I would say that it was done post mortem, and that he was killed somewhere else."

"Not bad, Reagan." said Renee with a smile, "What do you make of the clown get up, and mutilation?"

"Well." said Jamie, a slightly sick expression on his face, "The clown make up would suggest a sort humiliation tactic, but do to the city we are in, I would say that our perp is a psychopath, with a violent urges, and a sort of sick fascination with clowns, more specifically The Joker."

Harvey nodded his head, thoroughly impressed, "Not bad for a Harvard Grad." he said slyly, "But now we have to catch the son of a bitch who did this."

"Gordon's handed this case to MCU, he's on his way over here right now to look at it personally, but he said us and two other Homicide detectives can work this case with MCU." said Cris.

"Which detectives?" asked Harvey.

"McKenna and Gage." answered Renee.

Harvey whistled at that. Detectives Melody McKenna and Nicholas Gage were the considered to be oddest pair of partners in the history of the GCPD. McKenna had a reputation for being a hothead, who often acted without thinking, and though that the Batman was as just a big of threat as Mr. Freeze, while Gage was known for his calm, collected, and quiet manner. These traits had earned him the "St. Nick" nickname that his colleagues had called him for years.

"So what do we do now?" asked Jamie.

"We go back to HQ." answered Harvey, "We get our team together, and work this case from all angles."

"Gordon will no doubt get the Bat involved in a case like this." remarked Renee.

Harvey just snorted at that, "Meet us back at HQ when you are done here." he said as he and Jamie turned to leave.

When they got in the car, Jamie said, "You really don't like the Batman don't you."

Harvey's face had mixture of multiple emotions, "It's not so much that I don't like him, it's more that I don't trust him." he said, "He also can be an annoyance at crime scenes because he tends to take evidence, but don't get me wrong, I do respect him, even if he is a winged freak."

With that, Harvey started the car, and began the long drive back to the GCPD.

 **Location:** **GCPD Headquarters, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 10:30 P.M.**

James Gordon stood atop the GCPD Headquarters next to the flashing Bat Signal that he'd just lit thirty minutes ago. The Signal's powerful light flashed the famous Bat insignia onto the night Gotham sky, signaling a call to Gotham's protector. The air was cold and windy, which caused Gordon's trench coat to flap in the wind, and glasses to become a little fogged. Gordon took them off to wipe the fog off, and when he put them back on, he was so startled that jumped back a few inches. Batman, as if he'd just materialized from nothing, was standing before him.

"Commissioner." he said in a low, but intimidating voice.

"Don't do that." Gordon said, recovering from the near heart attack, "You're going to send me into early retirement."

"You have something for me." said Batman, not even acknowledging Gordon's earlier comment.

"Yes." said Gordon, deciding to let it go, "The body of a young 14 year old body was found stabbed in the Bowery this afternoon, there was also evidence of torture, and post mortem mutilation."

"Anything else?" asked Batman.

"Yes, one more thing." said Gordon as he reached into his coat, pulling out a copy of the case files he'd made. "The killer applied clown make up on the body in way similar to The Joker's face." said Gordon as he handed the files to Batman.

Batman looked over them for a few minutes before speaking, "Are you aware of the recent string of Joker themed street gangs that have popped up?" he asked?

Gordon scratched his head, "Yeah, these Jokerz had been becoming a problem, and we had considered them a possibility in this attack, but recently gang activity has died down, and the Jokerz haven't been spotted anywhere in the city."

"Have you ever heard of Johnny Forello?" asked Batman.

"Johnny Charisma, yeah I know who he is." said Gordon as he scratched the back of his head, "He's one of Falcone's capos."

"Was one of Falcone's capos." corrected Batman. "Forello defected after Joker's rampage, and became the leader of a Jokerz gang, he's trying to unite them so that he can form his own operation."

"Do you think he's responsible?" asked Gordon?

"No." said Batman flatly, "But I think he knows who would, I am going to have to borrow these files."

"Of course." said Gordon, "But where can we find Forello?"

"Forello has gone underground, no confirmed sightings of him in a couple days." answered Batman, "But I know someone that would know where he was at."

"Who?" asked Gordon?

Before Batman could answer, there was a knock of the door behind Gordon. "It's open!" he called as he turned around. He turned back to face Batman, "Now who would know..." he said his trailing off for Batman was gone, as if he'd never been there. "I hate it when he does that." Gordon muttered to himself.

The door opened, and Harvey hurried out to meet Gordon. "He did his disappearing act again, didn't he?" asked an amused Harvey.

Gordon ignored the question, "What do you have?" "The stiffs name is Thomas Rollins." said Harvey, "Fourteen, a real hard luck case, in and out juvie for grand theft auto, even armed robbery, ran with a lot of local Bowery street gangs, his prints were in the system."

"Any close family?" asked Gordon?

Harvey shook his head sadly, "I already checked, Daddy disappeared years ago, Mom OD'd in a Bowery crack house, not far from where we found her son's body, no brothers, sisters, not even an uncle."

"I see." said Gordon grimly, "Good work Harv, keep me posted on your progress."

"Yes, sir." answered Harvey, then he turned to leave.

Gordon reached into his jacket, and took out his pipe, he needed a smoke. Cases involving children always hit them hard, even Harvey was affected.

"I sure hope your instincts are right on this one Batman." he said to himself, "We need to catch this guy."

 **Location: Antonio's, Little Italy**

 **Time: 11:00 P.M.**

Eleven O' Clock was considered pretty late to be having dinner, but since the man in question owned the restaurant, he usual like to eat late after a hard days work. The restaurant, Antonio's, was considered the nicest place to eat in all of Little Italy. It was a tall, gothic style building, with a heavily lighted rooftop opening where the wealthy wined and dined. It was here where the man was enjoying his dinner of steak, potatoes, and a glass of red wine. He was an older gentlemen, with white hair, brown eyes, and slightly wrinkled skin.

He was dressed in a white suit, with a black trench coat over it, and a red rose pinned to his lapel. His most noticeable feature however was the three scars on his right cheek, three scratch shaped scars. Those scars has been left years ago when the cat burglar known as Catwoman had attacked him in his own house. He was known and feared throughout Gotham, he was Carmine Falcone. Don Falcone had controlled organized crime in Gotham for many years, but lately due to attacks from rivals, the police, and Batman, it was rumored his control was starting to slip. Today had not been a good day for business. He'd just heard from one of his sources that Tony Soprano had arrived in Gotham, and was trying to sway the street crews to follow him, Maroni was increasing his efforts to push into his turf, and Penguin was trying to cut him out the weapon's trade.

He'd decided to eat a late dinner, to take his mind of the troubles. He was sitting in the middle table eating, while his men, armed with automatic pistols, since assault rifles would cause a distraction, were standing in guard positions around him, keeping an eye out for trouble. As he finished the last bite, the lights on the roof suddenly went out. His eyes narrowed in anger, but he remained calm, he knew what was coming next. His men did too, they whipped out their guns, and took defensive positions but it was no use. Falcone blocked out their cries of pain and terror, as they were taken out one by one, not even flinching. Finally all was silent, too silent, and Falcone became aware of a presence standing behind him.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a smile, as he turned around to find Batman staring back at him.

Batman just glared, his eyes narrowing, "I need information on the whereabouts of one of your old lackeys." he sneered.

"Why would you think that I keep tabs on what my former men are doing?" asked Falcone, eyebrows raised.

"Don't give me that, Falcone." Batman shot back, "I know you, you like to be informed on what's going on down on the streets."

Falcone just smiled slyly at him, "I might know a few things." he said, "But what's in it for me?"

Suddenly Batman lunged forward, lifting Falcone of his feet by his neck, and slamming him into a nearby pillar, "How about a trip to the hospital." he snarled, "Now where is Johnny Forello."

"Why do you need to know where that loser is?" Falcone wheezed out, his straining under Batman's grip.

Batman's hand tightened, "I know he has been trying to organized the Jokerz, and I believe that the body that was bound in The Bowery this afternoon was killed by one of them." he spat, "He'll know who, but Forello hasn't been seen in awhile, and since he used to work for you, that means you would know how to find him, now tell me before I break your larynx!"

Falcone wasn't stupid, he knew that Batman would do exactly as he threatened to do, so he told him, "Forello is in the old Hartman's Warehouse in The Narrows, I greenlit him, so he's laying low, a couple of my men have set a trap and are waiting for him to come out." he wheezed, "Now let me go!"

"If you say so." snarled Batman.

He released his grip, allowing Falcone to breath for a minute, before knocking him out cold with a solid punch to the jaw.

Batman stared down at the crime bosses unconscious body, multiple emotions swirling through. Falcone was one of the many problems Gotham City had. He controlled most of the police force, and city council, making him all but untouchable. The fact that Falcone had been eating out in the open despite the current turf situation showed the power that the man still held. Batman shook his head, grabbed his Grapnel Gun, and headed out into the night. He would need the Batmobile if he going to get to The Narrows in time to stop Falcone's planned hit on Forello. He'd parked it a short distance away, in some abandoned lot. When he arrived there, he deactivated it's stealth mode, and defensive measure.

The Batmobile, was a long, sleek, tank like, car, with rocket engines, slide back cockpit, humongous wheels, and a connection to the Batcomputer back at the Bat Cave. If Forello was killed, it would be like pulling teeth to find out who killed Thomas Rollins, which is why he needed to stop that hit. Using the connection to the Bat Cave, he looked up what he had the boy so far, he'd hacked into the GCPD's files to find out what Harvey had discovered earlier. His theory had seemed confirmed when he'd found that Thomas had running around with a gang of street toughs organized Johnny Forello while he was under Falcone's employ. Maybe Thomas had joined Forello in his little Jokerz endeavor, it might explain the face paint. Only Forello would know for sure, and he needed to find him. Batman started up the Batmobile, and roared off into the night, heading for abandoned slum that was The Narrows.

 **Location: Hartman's Warehouse, The Narrows**

 **Time: 12:09 A.M.**

"You ok, Johnny?" asked Chuckles as they walked out the back of Hartman's Warehouse.

As soon as he'd found out about the price Falcone had put on his head, Johnny "Johnny Charisma" Forello, and two of his men, nicknames Chuckles and Smiley, had laid low at the old warehouse in The Narrows, probably the worst out of all the slums in Gotham, with most of its residents being addicts and criminals. Unfortunately, news had just reached him about other gangs moving in, almost wrecking his efforts to organized the various Jokerz gangs spread out all over Gotham City.

"There is still a price on my head." said Johnny, a brown haired man, with blue eyes, white face paint, blue lipstick, and dressed in a blue suit, in response to Chuckles's question, "How do you think I feel."

"Ah, don't worry boss." said Smiley, "No one but us knows you are here, but us."

Johnny tried to lighten up at that statement, but he just couldn't. They were out in the open, and despite his two clown masked goons being armed with automatic rifles, there just two many places for unseen assassins to hide.

Something crashed in the alley to their left, and immediately Chuckles and Smiley brought their guns up, and trained them on the alley.

"Who's there!" called Chuckles, "Show yourself!"

Johnny reached into his coat and drew his pistol, "Tell Falcone that Gotham belongs to The Joker now." he called, "His time is over."

"Says you!" came an angry answer, and just like that, automatic gunfire erupted between both sides. For about five minutes, the darkness was lit up with orange glow of bullets, as Johnny and his men traded shots with Falcone's hitmen. Chuckles went down first, a couple bullets in the chest, and then Smiley, bullet in the head. Johnny watched in horror as his two men went down, and then to top it off, his gun clicked empty. Johnny cursed, and went to reload, but it was too late.

"Don't even think about it, asshole." came a voice, as three leather clad goons emerged from the shadows of that alley, their machine guns still smoking in their hands. The leader aimed the muzzle of his gun at Johnny, "Falcone says hi." he sneered, but before he could paint the streets of The Narrows with Johnny's blood and guts, there was a faint whining sound, and a Batarang knocked the machine gun out of the thug's hand. The thug was then hit by two more Batarangs, one in the side, and one in the groin, knocking him unconscious.

The remaining two thugs began firing wildly at the shadows, as Batman leapt out of the darkness above, landing between them. Planting his fist into one thug's face, and his foot in the other's gut. Grabbing the first by the collar, Batman flipped him onto the ground, and knocked him unconscious with a brutal jab to the nerve clusters in the neck.

The final criminal decided to take his chances by running, but he didn't get five feet, before Batman drew his Batclaw, took aim, and fired. The hook snagged the back of the hood's jacket, allowing Batman to reel him in close for a vicious clothesline, followed by an elbow thrust, knocking him out with a grunt. Batman heard a small click, and spun to the side as Johnny lunged at him with a knife.

Johnny turned to face him, "Bring it on you winged freak." he roared, "This is for The Joker."

He swung the knife at Batman, who backpedaled, grabbed Johnny's wrist, and forced it behind Johnny's back, wrenching it up there really hard.

Johnny cried in pain as he dropped the knife, "What do you want." he yelled in pain.

"Who killed Thomas Rollins." roared the sandpaper on glass voice of Batman.

"What makes you think I know." protested Johnny.

"Don't lie to me scumbag, Rollins ran with a gang you controlled, and since he was killed by a Jokerz, that means you probably know, so tell me, or am I going to have to take this to the roof?" came Batman's reply?

"You wouldn't." said Johnny terrified, what was this creature going to do to him?

"Try me." said Batman.

"Alright." said Johnny, still in pain from have his arm being wrenched, "I think it was Carter Wilson, ok."

"Never heard of him!" Batman roared in reply, "Tell me more."

"He's a bad dude, never got along, went off to form his own gang!" Johnny yelled back, "Now let me go."

Batman tightened his hold instead, almost wrenching Johnny's arm out of socket, "Why would Wilson kill and mutilate a fourteen year old kid?" asked Batman sternly.

"Wilson has been trying to recruit some of my guys over to him." strained Johnny, "Got belligerent when they wouldn't cooperate, guess he decided to make an example of one, he calls himself Terminal now, and says he is the true disciple of the great Joker."

"There's nothing great about that psychopath." sneered Batman, and with that he knocked Johnny out by slamming his head into the concrete ground beneath them. If Carter Wilson really was behind the murder, then it was time to go tell the police what he'd discovered, it was time to go back to the GCPD.

 **Location: GCPD Headquarters, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 1:09 A.M.**

Harvey Bullock stepped outside on the roof and took a deep drag on the cold night air, he needed a smoke. He'd been trying to quit for the past few months, chewing toothpicks instead, but he figured on a stressful case like this, he needed something to make it a little easier. He'd just gotten done talking to Gordon about what they'd found so far, and it wasn't much. Gordon told him to keep working on it, but Harvey knew that he was hoping that Batman would pull through for them. He pulled a cigar from out of his box, and was about to light it, when a low growl of a voice came from the shadows.

"Detective Bullock." came the voice.

Harvey was so surprised that he dropped his cigar, and was about to pull his gun, but he relaxed a little when Batman walked out of the shadows. "I didn't know you were in the heart attack business, freak." said the startled Harvey Bullock.

Batman just ignored him, "I know who killed Thomas Rollins." he said.

Harvey's eyes widened, finally a break. "Well who was it?" he asked.

"I questioned Johnny Forello." said Batman, "He thinks it was Carter Wilson, a former member of his crew, now runs his own, goes by the name Terminal now."

Harvey shook his head in disgust, "Do all these damn wackos need names these days." he said sarcastically.

Batman didn't even blink, "I looked into Wilson, he's a former valedictorian from Gotham High School." he said, "Very smart, did well in the math and science categories."

"If he's so smart, how'd get involved with a loser like Forello?" asked Harvey.

"Carter had mental problems, possibly suffered from schizophrenia." said Batman, "It got him kicked out of college."

"And to make ends meet, he starts working with another mentally unstable asshole like Forello." finished Harvey, "Any ideas on where we can find him or any of his Jokerz pals."

"Apparently Forello and Carter had a falling out." said Batman, "Couldn't agree on what heights to take the Jokerz, Carter is trying to form his own group, and is trying to recruit from Forello's men, Rollins included."

"Rollins says no, and Carter stabs and mutilates him as a punishment." said Harvey with a shake of his head.

"I'll look for Carter directly." said Batman, "I will tell you where he is once I know."

Harvey shook his head as reached down to pick up his dropped cigar, "If you think that I am going to sit around on my ass while you look for a child killer, you've got another thing comin..." his voice trailed as he looked up and saw that Batman was already gone.

Harvey shook his head, and lit his cigar, "So this is how that feels like." he muttered as he puffed on it.

 **Major Crimes Squad Room**

"Enjoying your first night as detective, eh Reagan?" asked Nelson Crowe with a smile as he walked over to Jamie's desk.

Jamie, who had been going through Thomas Rollin's juvenile hall records, looked and smiled wryly, "It has well been something, I can tell you that." he said.

Crowe chuckled, "That was my reaction on my first day with the shield."

Crowe was one of the many MCU detectives currently assigned to work the Rollins murder. The mayor, Hamilton Hill, had been calling the Commissioner's office non stop ever since the murder had hit the news. Now everyone scrambling around, chasing every lead, no matter how flimsy it was.

After all, a boy had been murdered, they really needed to catch this guy. Crowe, a blonde haired man, with green eyes, and a penchant for grey suits and corncob pipes, was a veteran MCU detective who'd quickly struck up a friendship with Jamie.

Nelson's partner was the Supervisory Sergeant of the afternoon shift, Jackson Davies, who was currently in Captain Sawyer's office discussing the case. Davies, called "Sarge" by his colleagues, was a burly, African American man, with green eyes, a bushy mustache, and a wicked sense of humor.

Nelson and Sarge were two the ten detectives who worked the afternoon shift. Normally they would have all gone home by now, but the Commissioner had ordered everyone to pull double duty until this murderer was arrested. MCU wasn't the only one; Homicide, Narcotics, Intelligence, Patrol, and the other units had also ordered double shifts for all their men and women to help solve this case. To keep from overcrowding the MCU squad room, Gordon had moved MCU's midnight shift to another part of the building.

Suddenly the doors to the Captain's office opened and out stormed Captain Sawyer and Sarge, "I want all the detectives on my shift, and the four Homicide detectives to gather in the squad room immediately." she announced, "It's time to compare notes."

"Go ahead and do that Captain." came Harvey's voice as he walked into the squad room, "I have a suspect."

"Really?" said Maggie, eyebrows raised. Harvey nodded his head, "Well, then good work Detective Bullock." said Maggie, "Let's gather the team and you can tell us about it, I'll go tell the Commish, he'll want to hear about this."

Harvey nodded again, and sat down at his desk.

"Where were you?" asked Jamie.

Harvey shrugged, "Smoke break."

"You were on a smoke break, and you got the suspect?" asked Sarge incredulously.

Harvey grinned slyly, "Yep, that's exactly how it happened."

Crowe just shook his head, "What were you smoking?" he asked, "And where can I get some?"

"You'll find out as soon as the others get here." said Harvey.

 **Unknown Location**

 **Time: 3:00 A.M.**

Carter Wilson stared at his reflection in the mirror, his transformation was complete. He had needed to prove himself to Joker, and he had succeeded. Murdering that boy had been child's play, he had savored every moment of it. He now could really call himself, "Terminal!"

He exited his bathroom, and entered the office of the abandoned warehouse that he and his gang were using as base of operations. He looked different now, his long, black hair hung down, his face painted white, and his eyes, dark, and soulless. He was dressed in what looked like a stained straight jacket, and brown, dirty pants. He opened the door of the office, and exited, looking down to where his gang was waiting to be addressed by him. There was about thirty of them, men, and a few women. They were among the worst Gotham had to offer, murderers, rapists, anarchists, and cannibals. Criminals so bad, that the other syndicates wouldn't even bother to hire them, except for the Joker that is.

"Tonight, my brothers and sisters!" shouted Terminal, his manic voice echoing off the warehouses walls, "We begin the campaign of chaos, the campaign that our great leader, The Joker entrusted to us before the "Bat-Freak" locked him away in Arkham, but will we let his incarceration stop him from achieving his final plans!"

"NO!" was the shout that came from Terminal's gang.

In response, Terminal grinned down at them, "Now then my friends, you all have your assignments, may the lords of chaos watch over you, because before the morning comes, the Bat will be dead, and Gotham shall be in ruins."

Terminal couldn't help himself, he started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. If everything went to plan, Gotham would burn.

 **To Be Continued...**

 **Next Episode: Terminal Illness**


	2. Terminal Illness

**Hey guys, I am back, sorry it took awhile, I had school related projects, expect more frequent updates every Friday, until I leave for Boot Camp on June 27. But don't worry, I won't abandon any of my projects.**

 **Terminal Illness**

 **Location: Major Crimes Squad Room, GCPD Headquarters, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 3:30 A.M**

Detective Marcus Driver looked at Harvey, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, "You sure about this Wilson character, Harv?" he asked, "He's kind of out of left field, don't you think?"

Harvey Bullock sighed in annoyance, "Yeah I know, but it's the only lead we've got, and let's face it, until "The Bat" gave us his name, we had jack,no DNA, no forensics, heck, we didn't have a finger print."

"What proof did Batman give you to even suggest Wilson?" asked Driver's partner, Detective Romy Chandler.

"He got it out some low life named Johnny Forello." answered Harvey.

"You mean he coerced a confession!" snapped Detective Melody McKenna, a tall woman, with chocolate colored skin, fierce green eyes, long, curly brown hair in a pony tail and was dressed in dark slacks, a blue shirt, and grey jacket. She'd been getting angrier as the Batman's name was mentioned more.

"That won't stand up in court." she said angrily we need evidence to prove that Wilson murdered Thomas Rollins, we need to stop letting that vigilante interfere in our cases!"

"Not this again, Melody?" groaned her partner, Detective Nicholas Gage, a dark haired man, with green eyes, and dressed in a blue suit, black tie, and white shirt, "The Batman is an invaluable asset to us, he's proved it time and time again."

"Look, I am all for letting Batman handle the big time super villains like The Joker." said Marcus, "But when it comes to gangsters and normal murderers, he needs to step out of the way and let us cops handle it."

"Not to mention all cases that get thrown out because of him." said Sarge ruefully.

"But what about the cases where the only reason we make an arrest is because of him." countered Gerard.

"I have to agree with that as well." his partner Sonia said with a nod of her head.

"Let's get back on topic, please!" begged Jamie, he looked at Harvey, "Look, I agree with Detective McKenna that a coerced confession won't stand up in court, I graduated law school, and that was one of the first things they taught us."

Harvey folded his arms and scowled at Jamie, "Thanks a lot, partner."

"I am not finished yet." said Jamie, holding up his hands, "I think that we should at least look into Carter Wilson, and maybe we will find enough evidence, so that Batman's coerced confession won't need to be admitted into evidence, besides it's the Commissioner's call anyway."

They all looked to other side of the room where Commissioner Gordon and Captain Sawyer were sitting. They had remained silent through most of the discussion, Sawyer even had a slightly amused expression on her face. She in fact encouraged debating the Batman among her Detectives. She said discussing politics gave her headaches, so the Batman was a healthy substitute. Sometimes she would even invite Detective John Munch from the DA's Investigative Squad so that he could add his opinions to the mix. Detective Munch was a legendary NYPD and BPD detective who was known for his staunch belief in conspiracy theories, much to the chagrin of anyone who'd listen. He'd recently transferred to the Gotham DA's Investigative Squad, saying that New York no longer held any challenges, and that Gotham City was where it was at.

Commissioner Gordon looked at Sawyer for minute, who nodded her head before speaking, "Everyone makes a compelling point." he said, "But considering the case we are working, and the victim, we should look at all leads, despite who this lead came from."

"Thank you, Commish." said Harvey triumphantly.

"But where are we going to find Wilson?" asked Cris, "I mean I looked, he doesn't have any known addresses in the city."

"Guess that means we'll have ask around." said Renee, "Someone's got to know where he's hold up, what do you think, Captain?"

Captain Sawyer stood up, "If we can't find him through paper trails, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way." she said, turning to Nelson "Detective Crowe, do we currently have any known or suspected members of the Jokerz in the lock up."

Nelson thought about for a minute before saying, "Actually yes we do, Patrol locked up a man in clown makeup for attempted robbery about an hour ago, I think he's still in the holding cells."

"Good." said Sawyer, motioning to two uniforms who were nearby, "Bring him to interrogation."

"Think he will know where Wilson is?" asked Gerard.

"I think it's worth a shot." answered Sawyer.

"One more thing." said Gordon, he looked at Marcus and Romy, "I want you two to handle this, me and Captain Sawyer will be observing."

"Yes sir." answered Marcus with a nod.

Gordon turned to leave, but Harvey stopped him on the way.

"I think you should let me handle the interrogation." protested Harvey, "I could get Wilson's location out this schmuck in five minutes."

"I know you could." said Gordon calmly, placing a hand on Harvey's shoulder, "But Jamie's right, if we want any charges on Wilson to stick, we have to do it by the book, which means no bending the rules, coerced confessions, and that also means I can't allow you to bounce anyone this time, trust me on this."

Harvey growled in reply, but nodded, "If you say so, but at least let me and Reagan observe."

Gordon smiled, "Of course." he said, "By the way, how's he working out?"

Harvey snorted, "He ain't bad, but he's got a thing or two to learn before I'll consider him even close to Renee."

Gordon nodded, "And I wouldn't expect anything less."

With that, the two former partners went the outside of the one way window outside the MCU Interrogation Room to watch Marcus and Romy grill the suspect.

 **Meanwhile...**

 **Location: The Parking Garage Underneath Gotham City Hall, Miagani Island**

 **Time: 3:45 A.M.**

There it was, the mayor's limo, right where the chauffeur said it would be before he had died. Brian Adams took a deep breath, and immediately got to work. He had been elated when Terminal had picked his skills for this part of the operation. He had been given the blueprints for Gotham City Hall where it had detailed a secret underground parking garage for the mayor's limo. All he had needed was a false ID, a stolen van for entering and exiting , a fake workman's uniform, and tool bag, and just like that they had let him drive right in. They didn't even bother to search him. Even better was the fact that the cameras were down in the parking garage due to faulty wiring.

Brian smirked to himself, _"What kind of idiots did they hire at City Hall, they had just let a convicted arsonist and murderer right in."_ he thought.

Brian was of average height and weight, with tiny blue eyes, a brown crew cut, and a long scar on his left cheek, the result of a prison fight. He had been called **"The Bomber"** during his glory days as a freelance arsonist for Gotham's crime bosses and drug dealers. Then one day he was hired by a local drug dealer to blow up a rival dealer's drug den to send a message. Brian had done right what the dealer had asked, so far so good, right?

Wrong! Unfortunately for Brian, he'd used a little too much C4, and the resulting explosion had not only leveled the drug den, but also a couple of nearby houses, and half of St. Raphael's Catholic Church, killing at least ten people, including a priest. This made Brian, at least for a brief time, Public Enemy Number 1, Wanted not just by the Police, but by the Underworld as well.

It turned out that Carmine Falcone, a devoted Catholic who frequented St. Raphael's, was not pleased by "The Bomber's" work at all and proceeded to blackball Brian so that none of the top players in the underworld would hire him in the future. He then forced the drug dealer who'd hired him for the job to turn himself and Brian in to GCPD under threat of a very painful death. Brian had been laying low at a girlfriends house when the GCPD's SWAT teams had burst in and hauled him off to jail.

At first he'd refused to admit to anything, even after a couple of nasty beatings at the hands of the investigating detectives. Then they'd taken him out back in the alley behind the GCPD headquarters where **"He"** was waiting. Brian had always thought of himself as a pretty tough guy, that is until The Batman got ahold of him. Somehow getting dangled by his feet of a skyscraper had made him realize that confessing would probably be the best choice for him, so he told the cops everything.

Unfortunately though, the Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent had offered the drug dealer a really sweet deal to testify against him on murder, and arson charges in exchange for a reduced sentence. Even though the dealer had been the one who'd started it, an arsonist for hire made bigger headlines, and everyone knew that Dent loved headlines. The dealer testified, the jury believed every word of it, and the judge threw the book at him. He was given life in Blackgate Penitentiary without the possibility parole.

Prison wasn't much better. Blackgate was a nightmare, plain and simple, with brutal guards, and sadistic prisoners. It was here that he'd gone from Brian "The Bomber" to Brian **"The Bitch"** courtesy of his cellmate. He'd finally had enough after five months, so he'd slashed his wrists with a sharpened toothbrush handle. It didn't work, and he was placed on suicide watch in the Medical Ward, and that's where he'd met **Him**. Brian didn't how he'd gotten past security, but the man in purple had smiled widely and told him about what a big fan of his work he was, and that he should be proud of what he'd done. Brian, who couldn't see the man's face, had retorted that it had cost him everything, even if he somehow got out, no one would ever hire him again. The man had laughed, a creepy sound that had sent shivers up his spine, he then said had he might have some used for him. Then he showed Brian his face, a face that was feared throughout the world, it was The Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker.

Brian Adams life had been forever changed that day, The Joker had arranged his escape, and used him for many jobs. Like the one he was doing now for Terminal, leader of the most fanatical branch of the Jokerz gang.

Brian shook his head and let the memories clear his head, he couldn't think about that now, he had work to do. He opened the tool bag and pulled out what he been sent to plant. It looked like two green bricks with a box and wires on top, but it was actually a C4 charge with a metallic strip on the back. Brian's plan was to attach the bomb to the limo's undercarriage, get a few good paces away where he could observe from a distance, and detonate the charge with a hand detonator once the mayor was inside. It was to be one of many coordinated attacks on Gotham's institutions tonight designed to create chaos.

Brian smiled to himself, the plan was foolproof. There was no one who could stop him, not the Mayor's security, not the cops, not even The Batman. Unfortunately for Brian, Batman wasn't the only creature that stalked criminals in the night. He didn't know it, but someone was watching him, and had been ever since he'd entered the parking garage.

"Well this is interesting." the woman muttered to herself as she watched Brian from her upside down position on the garages ceiling.

She'd originally broken into City Hall for the plans to the new security measures at the Cyrus Pinkney Institute for Natural History, put there no doubt due to her last "visit" there a couple years back. But here she was, not even halfway to her objective, observing a man trying to strap a bomb to the undercarriage of the Mayor's limo. She briefly thought about just minding her own business and let the man blow up the Mayor.

Hamilton Hill was as dirty and unscrupulous as they came, and very few people would shed a tear if he were blown to smithereens. But her moral side, as deeply hidden as it was, told her that she should stop the would be assassin. Besides, Bruce would never forgive her if she allowed it to happen, not a good way to greet a friend after a year of being gone. Breaking into the Museum would have to wait, at least for now.

" _I guess I'd better see what this is about."_ she thought to herself as she dropped to the ground silently a few paces away from Brian. Brian, who was busy adjusting a few wires on the bomb, was completely unaware of her presence. She was of average height, with green eyes, and short black hair. She was dressed in a skintight black leather suit with a zipper down the front, a mask with two cat like ears on top, red goggles that assisted her in pointing out weak spots in safes and night vision adorned her eyes, in her gloves were steel, retractable claws, good for combat and scaling rooftops, and attached to her belt was a long leather bull whip.

Her real name was Selina Kyle, but to the citizens of Gotham, she was the infamous burglar, thief, and occasional hero, Catwoman.

Catwoman thought about just going up behind the guy and just taking him out, quickly and quietly. She was more than capable, but what was the fun it that? She stretched her arms and shoulders, it had been awhile since she had used her combat skills, time to see if she was rusty.

Brian had just put a few finishing touches on the bomb, when he felt another presence near him. He reached into his bag, and pulled out the pistol, a silenced Ruger 22/45 , that he'd brought with him and stood up straight. That's when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"A little late for demolition, don't you think?" came the feminine, seductive voice directly in his ear.

Brian spun around, trying to aim his gun, but Catwoman lashed out with her leg, knocking his gun hand up. Brian's gun went off, the silenced round powering into the ceiling. He tried to aim again, but Catwoman lashed out again, this time with an elbow strike that caught him square in the throat, and knocking the air out of his lungs, and forcing him to back away from her. She pulled her whip from her belt and snapped it towards the gun. The end of the whip coiled around the pistol's barrel, and with a flick of her wrist, the gun was roughly torn from Brian's hand. He swore loudly and charged at her swinging. She bridged under the first punch, "Matrix Style" and countered with a slash of her claws across Brian's chest.

The steel tipped claws ripped through Brian's shirt like paper, cutting into him deeply. Brian howled in pain, and swung at her again. Catwoman blocked it and countered with a punch of her own, spinning Brian's head around sideways. Seeing the need to end the fight quickly, she used his arm for momentum to catapult above him and land on his shoulders.

She wrapped her legs around his throat, and fell backwards. Brian hit the concrete hard, and then gurgled as Catwoman tightened the pressure around his neck, trying to choke him out. His hand felt around, trying to find his pistol, but it was no use. Catwoman felt his body go slack as he lost consciousness. She released the pressure, stood up, and went to take a look at the bomb. It was a simple C4 charge, military grade, no doubt bought from Penguin. When it came to weapons in Gotham City, everyone knew that Oswald Cobblepot, AKA The Penguin, was the man to talk to. Guns, explosives, and even surface to air missiles, he supplied it all, for a price of course.

She put the bomb and then the gun back in Brian's tool bag, and though about her next course of action. The good news was that since the gun was silenced, no one could of heard the shot during that was fired during their brief fight, but someone was sure to come by soon. If they saw her and an unconscious man, they wouldn't hesitate to

A. Call for Security or Trigger some kind of alarm

B. If they were Security, open fire on her, her costume gave her a lot of advantages, but being bullet proof wasn't one of them

or

C. Call the cops; her and Gordon didn't always see eye to eye on things, and she doubted he would welcome her back to Gotham

She knew she couldn't leave, not without the would be bomber. He was obviously paid to do it, she'd seen his kind before, if she helped discover who hired him, it would be a good way to start things off with Bruce again. Unfortunately it also presented a challenge. She had gotten into City Hall through the expansive air ducts through out the building, and she couldn't haul Brian's unconscious body back through the ducts. She also couldn't walk out through the main entrance, not without getting spotted by someone.

She looked around the garage, hoping an idea would come to her, and that's when she happened to look upon the false I.D. attached to Brian's uniform. She then saw the van that was parked a few paces away. She smiled to herself as an idea began forming in her head. First she peeled the mask and goggles off her face, exposing her short black hair, and perfect cheek bones. She pocketed the mask and goggles, and then as quickly as she could, she undressed the unconscious man, leaving him in a white tank top, and boxer shorts. She then put the uniform on over her costume. She pinned the I.D. to her shirt, and then dragged Brian's frame towards the van. She tossed Brian in the back of the van, and then got into the driver's seat.

The keys were in the ignition, to her surprise and delight. She started the van, and began driving it towards the exit of the parking garage. There was a security guard on deck, his job being to check any vehicles entering, or exiting the garage.

"Damn!" Selina cursed as she drove towards the guard house.

It had been empty when she'd broken in earlier, but now the guard had come back. The false I.D. had a male's face on it, and if the guard looked at her face close enough, he would know something was up. Just as she thought about ramming her way out, a smell hit her nostrils. It was faint at first, but then it got stronger as she drove closer to the guard house. As she pulled up, and got a good look at the guard, she couldn't help but laugh a little. The guard's eye's were big and blood shot, and he stumbled a little bit as he leaned forward to get a look at her. The smell was alcohol, the guard was drunk, and very drunk by the look of it, no wonder the would be bomber had gotten in so easily.

"I.D. please." said the guard, slurring his words.

"Oh, you've already checked my I.D." answered Selina, "I am clear to leave."

"I did?" the guard said, his alcohol greased mind trying and failing to recollect anything that had happened in the past few hours. In fact he could of sworn the workman had been a man, but instead it was a woman. That was it, no more whiskey for the rest of the night.

"I guess I did." said the guard, trying to shake the cobwebs loose, "Well, have a good night then."

"Thanks, I will." replied Selina with a playful smile.

The guard opened the gate, and Selina drove through, leaving Gotham City Hall behind her. She drove a few blocks till she found a desolate alley to park in. Selina got out, and dragged Brian's still unconscious body out of the back of the van. She zip tied his hands to a pipe, redressed into her Catwoman suit, and then thought about what she should do next. The logical thing to do would be to call Bruce and tell him about what happened, but after not seeing him for a year, that didn't really seem the way to go about things. Then another idea popped into her mind. She pulled out her cell phone, dialed a number, then waited as it rang."

 _"Hello?"_ came the British accented answer after three rings _._

"Hey Al, good to hear your voice again, how's the feather dusting going?" Selina said into the receiver with a smile.

 _"Selina Kyle, is that you?"_ asked a very surprised Alfred Pennyworth _._

"Who else, just calling to tell you that I am back in town." said Selina.

 _"How on Earth did you get this number?"_ inquired Alfred.

"Bruce gave to me a while back." answered Selina, "By the way, I need you tell him to meet me in the alley of the corner of Westchester and Rockford."

 _"Normally I would, but Master Bruce is working on a very important case right now."_ said Alfred, _"And I don't think he will want to be delayed, especially by you."_

"Trust me this is important." said Selina, "I was "visiting" Gotham City Hall..."

 _"Visiting?"_ asked Alfred in a voice that implied that he didn't believe her.

"Not the point, Al." said Selina, a little annoyed, "Anyway I came upon a man in the parking garage trying to strap a bomb to the Mayor's limo, I took him out and brought him to the alley, the bomb is military grade C4, only Penguin sells stuff like that, this guy was most likely hired."

There was a silence at the end of line for a few minutes, making Selina believe that Alfred had hung up, but then he spoke, "I give this to Master Bruce immediately, I must say, as a former Special Operations vet myself, well done, Selina."

With that, he hung up, leaving Selina with the unconscious Brian Adams. She passed the time by playing this new App she'd recently downloaded on to her smart phone. Ever so often she'd peer over at the still unconscious Brian, who still hadn't stirred since she'd choked him out. For a little bit she had been worried that he was dead, but a quick check of the pulse confirmed that he was still among the living.

She decided that if he woke up, she'd just knock him out again with a right knock out hook, taught to her by former boxing champ and legendary super hero, Ted Grant, AKA Wildcat. She checked the time and sighed in disgust. She had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes, where was he. She stood up, stretched, and turned around, only to run smack dab into cowled visage of Batman.

Initially she gasped in surprise, but then her personality took over, "I always like it when you do that, it makes you even more tall, dark, and mysterious." she said with a smile.

"Selina." came the glass on sandpaper voice of Batman, "Show me the man you captured."

"That's all I get, no hey, how are you doing, how's life, no special greeting for a life long friend?" pouted Catwoman, "Still the sour puss I see."

"I don't have time for this right now Selina." growled Batman, "There is a dangerous killer on the loose, but a threat on the Mayor's life is also serious which means that I have to look into it, we can talk later, now where is he?"

"Fine, he's over there." huffed Catwoman, pointing behind her, "I zip tied him to the pipe, he hasn't woken up yet."

"I'll wake him." said Batman as he walked over to Brian, his cape covering him like a cloak, pulling something out of his utility belt.

"What's that?" asked Catwoman.

"Smelling salts." answered Batman, as he placed the chemical compound under Brian's nose.

Brian's face twitched for a few seconds, until eyes suddenly shot open, immediately gazing upon Catwoman.

"You bitch!" he snarled as soon as he saw her, "You've ruined everything, I will kill you for this!"

"After the way I kicked your ass, you're the one calling me a bitch." retorted Selina, "By the way there someone here who wants to have a few a words with you."

"What, you going call the cops, or something bitch." taunted Brian, "I ain't scared of them."

"No, she called me." growled Batman as he stepped out of the shadows, "Hello Brian, longtime no see."

As soon as Brian laid eyes on the Dark Knight, all the color drained out of his face, his eyes went from defiant to terrified.

"Not you again." said Brian in a scared voice.

"You know him?" Catwoman asked Batman.

"His name is Brian Adams, he's arson for hire." said Batman, "But there is only one man that Brian works for these days, The Joker."

Batman walked forward and placed his boot on Brian's throat, making him gurgle.

"Since Joker is currently locked in Extreme Isolation at Arkham Asylum, you could of gotten your orders from only one person." growled Batman as he put pressure on Brian's neck, making him gasp for air, and turning his face blue, "Where is he, WHERE IS TERMINAL?"

Brian managed to utter out a reply, "Screw you."

Catwoman popped her claws out, "Tell him, or I'll cut you're eyes out."

"It doesn't matter, you're already too late." choked out Brian.

Batman slammed a vicious jab into Brian's stomach, increasing his pain, "TELL ME NOW!" Which was then followed by another jab.

"Alright, I'll tell you." wheezed Brian, "Just please stop."

Batman took his boot of Brian's neck, causing Brian to cough profusely.

"Arkham Asylum, okay." Brian said once he'd recovered, "Terminal is heading to Arkham to try to break out the Boss and his girl, but you'll never stop them."

He then laughed, "Like I said, you're all too late, it has already begun, you can't stop us."

"Please clarify." growled Batman.

Brian smirked at them, "My attack is just one of many, tonight Gotham will burn as it's institutions are destroyed one by one, no one is safe, not even your friends in the GCPD, and there is nothing you can do."

With the quickness of a snake, Batman hit Brian with a punch to the jaw. The punch was not designed to to knock him out, but it was hard to knock a couple of teeth loose. He then grabbed Brian by the back of his neck and slammed him into the brick wall, making Catwoman wince.

"Give me everything." snarled Batman, "This will just get worse by the minute, your pain tolerance isn't as good as you'd like to think, scumbag."

Brian looked up at Batman, his nose was bleeding, probably broken, and his right eye was swollen shut. He spit out a tooth, and said, "We had one of our guys get arrested with precinct of the GCPD headquarters, ok, his orders are to get ahold of a gun, and shoot the Commissioner, we also sent a strike team to storm the front in order to create a distraction, it's one of many attacks planned around the city, it was The Boss's final orders before you locked him up."

"What is the man's name?" asked Batman.

"Will Perry, he's a heroin addict." answered Brian angrily, "That's all I got, so if your going to throw me in jail, just do it already."

"Just one more thing." said Batman, getting into Brian's face, "Why did Terminal brutally murder Thomas Rollins, why kill the boy."

"Carter called it an initiation." answered Brian, his good eye staring Batman straight in the face, "Terminal did to prove himself to The Boss that he had what it took."

"He killed the boy, like that, for an initiation?" said Batman, his voice filled for disgust. "I've heard enough." With that, he planted a swift elbow into the side of Brian's temple, knocking him out once again.

Batman looked to Catwoman, "You, ok?"

"I am fine." answered Catwoman, though hearing about why Thomas Rollins was murdered had creeped her out a little, "So what's the plan?"

"I am heading to Arkham to head Terminal off." answered Batman, "I need you to head to GCPD to stop the assault there."

"Wait, hold up." said Catwoman shaking her head, "You want me of all people to walk into GCPD voluntarily, Bruce, last I checked there is still some outstanding warrants with my name on them, I would be arrested on the spot, besides I normally don't do the whole hero thing."

"Now's not the time for this, Selina." growled Batman, "This is your chance to do something right, this isn't up for debate."

"Fine, I'll do it." conceded Catwoman, with a slump of her shoulders, "But I still want to talk to you about things once this is all over."

"We'll do that." answered Batman, "By the way, it is good to see you again, Selina."

Catwoman replied with a smile, "Likewise, Bruce."

She pulled her whip from her belt, and let it fly towards a roof top with a crack. The whip wrapped around something solid, and with a tug, she was gone. Batman couldn't help but smile, but then he looked down at Brian's unconscious form, time to get back to work, he'd have the cops pick him up later. He typed a few buttons on his gauntlet, put his finger to the ear piece in his cowl, and waited.

It took a few seconds for an answer.

 _"Hello, this is Gordon."_ came the Commissioner's voice into Batman's ear piece _._

"Jim, do you have Will Perry in your holding cells?" asked Batman.

 _"How did you get this number?"_ asked Gordon, a little surprised.

"That's not important right now, please answer the question." said Batman, using a little more force than he would of normally used with the Commissioner.

 _"Yeah we have him, but not in the holding cells."_ answered Gordon, _"We think he is a low level member of the Jokerz, we thought we might know something of Carter Wilson's whereabouts, Detectives Driver and Chandler just got done grilling him in interrogation, but he didn't give up much, so we are taking back to holding, why the interest?_

"JIM IT'S A TRAP!" Batman yelled into his earpiece, "THE ARREST WAS PLANNED SO THAT HE COULD GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO KILL YOU, THERE IS A JOKERZ STRIKE TEAM HEADING YOUR WAY TO CAUSE A DISTRACTION!"

" _What?"_ asked Gordon sharply, before gunshots suddenly sounded over the ear piece, and the line went dead.

"JIM!" roared Batman into the receiver, "ANSWER ME, JIM!"

But there was no answer, just silence. Batman hoped his friend would be alright. The cops of the GCPD were tough, and Selina was hopefully on her way. Other than that there was nothing he could do for Jim at the moment. If he was to prevent The Joker's escape he needed to start heading to Arkham Asylum, on the double.

 **about thirty minutes earlier**

 **Location: Major Crimes Interrogation Room, GCPD Headquarters, Old Gotham**

 **Time: 4:00 A.M.**

Jamie watched as Will Perry as he was lead past him in cuffs, and into the MCU's Interrogation Room with Marcus and Romy. The Interrogation Room was of average size, with dull gray bricks, a single overhead lamp, a small wooden table, and chairs on both sides. Romy sat in the chair, while Marcus stood off to the side, his arms folded. There was also a one way window on the wall of the Interrogation Room that allowed only people standing on the outside of the room to see what was going on. Jamie, Harvey, and the Commissioner stood on this side of the window to watch the Interrogation.

Jamie thought about the two detectives on the inside, Marcus Driver was tall, with short blond hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in a white dress shirt, black tie, black slacks, his gun holstered at his hip, and his badge hooked in is belt. His partner, Romy Chandler, was shorter, with long red hair that fell to her shoulders, sharp green eyes, and was dressed in black pants, and a black leather jacket. When he'd been introduced to them, they'd seemed nice, but Jamie really didn't know much about them, so he decided he would ask the Commissioner and his partner.

"What can you tell me about them?" he asked.

"Oh, Driver and Chandler." answered Commissioner Gordon, "What can I say, really good cops, two of my best really, Marcus is a former Marine, while Romy is a former FBI Agent, and has black belt in judo."

"Which means she could probably kick your ass, Reagan." said Harvey with a grin.

"But not yours, right?" Jamie joked back.

Harvey just chuckled, "Ain't no one can take me, I was a Golden Glove boxer back in the day, good enough to go pro, but I became a cop instead, but I still get use the "Sweet Science" once in awhile"

Harvey put his fists up and imitated a boxers stance, he then chuckled again.

"You know I heard from you brother that you're a pretty good boxer." he said.

"I am just ok." admitted Jamie.

"You and me should go down to the gym sometime, and we'll see just how "ok" you really are." said Harvey.

"I'll take have you up on that, Harv." said Jamie, his attention turning back to Marcus and Romy in the Interrogation Room where Marcus was beginning the interrogation.

"Hello, Mr. Perry." said Marcus, "I am Detective Driver, and this is Detective Chandler, we are with the GCPD's Major Crimes Unit, and we have some questions that we'd like to ask you."

"I've already told you guys everything." complained Will Perry, a tall, African American man, dressed in a hoodie, sweat pants, and white and red paint smeared all over his face,"Why do you two need to talk to me, all of this over a mugging."

"This isn't about the mugging." answered Marcus, "This is more about the paint of your face."

"Is painting your face a crime, now?" sneered Perry.

"No, but protecting a murderer is." said Romy.

"Murder?" said a stunned Will Perry, "I have nothing to do with no murder."

"What about the leader of your little gang?" asked Romy, turning on the pressure a little more, "Carter Wilson."

"Who?" asked Will Perry.

"Wait, Romy." said Marcus, a sarcastic smile on his face, "Remember his name is "Terminal" now, after all, it's the cool thing to give yourself some kind of super name or something these days, isn't it."

"I have no idea what you are all talking about." said Will Perry, defensively.

"Well then, let me lay it out for you." countered Marcus, "Thomas Rollins was found murdered this yesterday afternoon, and our investigation, along with a little outside help, has led us to believe that Carter Wilson, AKA Terminal, the leader of a branch of The Jokerz gang, is responsible."

"What makes you think that I would know anything?" asked Will Perry.

"The paint of you face." answered Romy, "Since the Jokerz like to wear face paint, it kinda of makes it obvious which crew you're rolling with."

"Just cause I wear face paint, don't make a member of them." protested Will Perry, "I roll with the Lords of Avenues."

"You mean you used too." countered Marcus, "We talked to a couple of our friends in the Gang Unit before we brought you up here, they tried to kill you a couple months back for stealing from their heroin stashes, you're junkie after all, luckily you were pinched by Narcotics for dealing before they could whack you."

Will Perry's face flushed with embarrassment, then he spoke, slower this time.

"Ok, maybe I do hang out with the Jokerz." he admitted, "But I just hang out with them, I ain't a member, the paint is just for fun."

"But have you ever heard the name, Carter Wilson?" asked Romy.

"A couple of times." said Will Perry, "The dudes supposed to be some kind of whacked out psycho, but I never met the guy personally."

"Do you know anything about his whereabouts?" asked Marcus.

"Nothing for certain." answered Will Perry, "But I did hear a few rumors about supposed hang outs of his."

Marcus slid him a piece of paper and a pencil, "Write them down."

Will Perry nodded, took the pencil, and began writing down possible locations for Terminal's whereabouts. When he was done, he slid the paper back to Marcus. Marcus read it over, and showed it to Romy. They both shook their heads, and glared at Will Perry with barely hidden contempt.

"That you, Mr. Perry." said Marcus, his voice filled with annoyance, "Uniforms will escort you back to holding."

With that, he and Romy left the Interrogation Room, and faced their three colleagues.

"What happened?" asked Commissioner Gordon.

"He lied his ass off." replied Romy angrily, "That's what happened."

"The locations he mentioned." said Marcus, "They're all places we'd already searched, let's face it, he knows nothing."

"Well, that's disappointing." said Commissioner Gordon with a shake of his head, " You two go tell Sawyer the bad news." He looked to Harvey and Jamie, "Harvey, reach out to your street informants again, maybe they'll have picked up something new."

"I guess it can't hurt." said Harvey with a shrug.

Harvey and Jamie went to make some phone calls, while Marcus and Romy went to talk to Captain Sawyer in her office, leaving Gordon alone by the Interrogation Room's window.

The same two uniforms from earlier went into Interrogation to escort Will Perry back to holding, and that's when the Commissioner cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out, gave a puzzled look at the blocked number, and then answered it.

 _"_ Hello, this is Gordon." he said.

 _"Jim, do you have Will Perry in your holding cells?"_ came Batman's voice from the Commissioner's phone, surprising him in the process

"How did you get this number?" he asked.

 _"That's not important right now, please answer the question."_ said Batman, forcefully.

"Yeah we have him, but not in the holding cells." answered Gordon, "We think he is a low level member of the Jokerz, we thought we might know something of Carter Wilson's whereabouts, Detectives Driver and Chandler just got done grilling him in interrogation, but he didn't give up much, so we are taking back to holding, why the interest?

"JIM IT'S A TRAP! came Batman's shout through the phone, almost deafening Gordon, "THE ARREST WAS PLANNED SO THAT HE COULD GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO KILL YOU, THERE IS A JOKERZ STRIKE TEAM HEADING YOUR WAY TO CAUSE A DISTRACTION!"

"What?" asked Gordon sharply, and that's when he heard the gunshots. He dropped the phone, drew his revolver, and hit the ground as bullets hit the air where he'd been standing earlier, shattering the Interrogation Room's one way mirror, ringing his ears in the process. Trying to shake the cobwebs out, Gordon got to one knee, trying to bring his revolver up, only to feel a brutal kick to the side of the head as Will Perry's boot caught him in temple, making him drop his gun. Gordon looked up to see Will Perry standing over, one the uniformed officer's sidearms in his hand. When the two uniforms had come in to take him back to holding, Perry had pulled the shank that had been smuggled to him by two fellow gang members dressed up like cops. He'd stabbed the first one in the throat, and took his gun. He'd shot the second one three times before he could do anything, and then he'd turned and fired through the one way window, where he'd seen the Commissioner standing against earlier. Now he stood over the Commissioner, the muzzle of his gun aimed at his head.

"Say cheese." he sneered

Gordon just stared back at him defiantly, the veteran cop not daring to back down to this low life hood. He couldn't help but closed his eyes and flinch as gunshots pierced the air. When he didn't feel the searing pain of being shot, a feeling he was more than familiar with, he opened his eyes. Will Perry lay on the ground, dead from bullet wounds to the side, blood still pooling out of them. He picked up his dropped revolver and stood up, Jamie running over to meet him with his gun drawn.

"You ok, Commissioner?" he asked. Everybody in the Squad Room had heard the shots, but Jamie had been there first, his gun drawn and everything. As soon as he had seen Will Perry standing over the Commissioner with a gun pointed at him, he hadn't hesitated. He took aim, and fired four times, every shot hitting it's mark.

"I am ok, Reagan." said the Commissioner calmly, but before he could say anything else, the elevator doors opened and machine gun fire pierced the air.

 **Meanwhile, Outside the GCPD headquarters lobby a few minutes earlier**

Five, large, black vans stopped across the street from the GCPD headquarters, and their occupants got out. There were sixteen of them, all dressed in black tactical gear, body armor, white face paint, and they were all armed with Heckler & Koch MP5-Sub-machine Guns, Colt Pistols, and Marine Ka-Bar fighting knives. Their mission, to kill Commissioner Gordon, and any cop that got in their way. It was one of many strikes that were being conducted that night against the police, the mayor's officer, and several other Gotham institutions.

"Alright, men, you know our mission." the team leader said, "We don't go back to base until Gordon is dead, and the GCPD burns."

That earned a small cheer from the assembled strike team.

"Alright, now move!" ordered the team leader, and the strike team surged forward, heading towards the entrance of the GCPD, but unfortunately for them, they were spotted, not just by a former cop, but a different kind of former cop.

"Well this is interesting." said Vic Mackey as he observed the armed force that was storming the GCPD.

He had been on his way to meet with Harvey Bullock to give him some information that he'd recently picked up involving a Maroni heroin shipment that was coming in the next week. Of course he'd had to break the fingers and ankles of one of Salvatore Maroni's low level foot soldiers to get this intel, but as long as no one but him and Harvey knew about it, it would sure be a large blow to Maroni's operations. But he guessed he would have to put that on hold for now, since while on his way there, he'd spotted several heavily armed goons that were approaching GCPD Headquarters, forcing him to duck into an alley to avoid being seen. Vic thought what his next course of action should be. Most of the cops assigned to GCPD's Headquarters were spread out all over the city, hunting down leads in the Thomas Rollins killing, leaving the Headquarters severely under defended. There was going to be a massive firefight to be sure, and Vic wasn't sure the cops would win this one, but what should he do? Turn tail, and walk away like a cowardly bitch, or fight in the trenches one last time with the police, who once they found out about who he really was, and the stuff he'd done back in LA, would no doubt hate his guts. The answer, was really a no brainer for him.

"Time to show these assholes who really rule the streets." he muttered to himself as he pulled his IMI Desert Eagle from the shoulder holster under his leather jacket. He crept slowly from the alley, the armed thugs not noticing him as he took position behind a parked squad car, where he waited.

The sixteen man strike team approached the entrance of the GCPD headquarters, their machine guns out in front, ready for action. In the lobby, Gerard and Sonia were chatting with the desk sergeant, while three uniformed officers were busy talking near the side wall, no one noticing the armed force that had surrounded the entrance, since no one was watching the cameras at that moment. The sixteen men all entered the lobby, weapons raised and ready to fire. It was one of the uniforms that noticed him first. His expression was a mixture of shock and amazement as soon as he saw the automatic weapons, his hands scrabbling for the gun on his hip.

"Freeze, GCPD!" but that was as far as he got before he was blown off his feet by a burst of machine gun fire, a mist of red staining the walls. All sixteen men opened fire at once, spraying the entire lobby with lead, the remaining five cops taking cover, hoping not to look like targets.

"Call for backup!" yelled Gerard at the desk sergeant, drawing his gun. He, Sonia, and the Sergeant had all taken cover behind the desk. One of the uniforms leaned out, and fired back. His bullets struck on the gunman's body armor, but didn't penetrate. The gunman fired at the uniform, hitting him in the chest and face, killing him instantly.

"You five!" called the team leader, motioning to them, "Make for the elevators, don't come back till Gordon is dead."

"Yes, sir." responded the five men, and they broke off from the rest of the group, heading for the elevators.

"They're going for the Commissioner!" yelled Gerard, standing up to fire at them.

"Gerard, get down!" ordered Sonia, pulling her partner down as the gunmen fired upon them again, multiple bullets hitting the heavy desk.

It was too late, the five man death squad made it to the elevators,

The remaining uniform took the opportunity to fire multiple shots from behind the couch where he'd taken cover, hitting one of the gunmen in the head, killing him.

"Man down!" yelled the team leader angrily. He took aim at the uniform and fired. The cop's body twitched multiple times as the bullets pierced it, and then he fell to the ground, dead.

Gerard, Sonia, and the desk sergeant then leaned out and fired multiple times, their shots killing one of the gunmen and sending the rest scrambling for cover. The gunmen fired back, sending the three cops ducking behind the desk once more.

"We can't stay here!" yelled Sonia over the gunfire as she reloaded her pistol.

"But there is no cover between us and the elevator!" Gerard yelled back, "We'll be shot to pieces."

The nine remaining gunmen fired another barrage of gunfire towards their position, the desk sergeant crying out, clutching his shoulder.

"I am hit!" he yelled in pain.

That was when Vic made his move, running towards the gunmen, firing his Desert Eagle while he did. The bullets shattered the glass doors of the headquarters, and two of the armed thugs yelled in pain and surprise as they went down, bullets in their backs. The team leader turned around, saw Vic running towards them gun drawn, and fired at Vic. Vic hit the dirt, bullets whizzing over him. He returned fired from his prone position, but not hitting anything.

 _In hindsight, this probably wasn't the best of ideas_ , he thought to himself.

It was at that moment that Catwoman arrived, observing the scene from the top of an adjacent building. She uttered a vile curse when she saw that she was too late to stop the initial fighting, but there was still enough time to save what was left of the cops in the lobby from getting shot. There were currently five gunmen on the street, including the team leader, who were trading shots with a bald man in a leather jacket, who had taken cover behind a parked car. The other two thugs had stayed inside to finish off the two detectives and the wounded desk sergeant.

"Bruce had better thank me for this." she muttered as she leapt off the building.

Her target was only vaguely aware of the shadow coming at him from above, but it didn't really register with him until it landed on his shoulders. Catwoman swiftly raked both her claws across his eyes, cutting into them, blinding him. The man screamed in pain as blood flowed from his ruined eyes, his finger tightened on the trigger on his gun, firing wildly, and surprising his fellow thugs. Catwoman then somersaulted off the man's shoulder's, her feet catching his chin, rattling him. She finished him off with a hard elbow strike to the jaw, sending him to the floor, unconscious. Catwoman didn't have enough time to admire her work though as machine fire suddenly came her way, forcing her to cartwheel to the side to get out of the way.

"You, and me will take Catwoman!" ordered the team leader, "You two take baldy over there."

"Yes sir!" answered the two men, and they approached Vic's position, but when they got to the car where he'd been earlier, he was gone. The two men looked at each other with confused looks as tentatively approached the spot. Where was he? Then all of a sudden, the door of the the patrol car was roughly flung open, hitting one of the men in back, sending him to the dirt. Vic Mackey jumped out of the car, where he'd set his ambush, his gun aimed point blank at the still standing thug's chest.

"Guess who, asshole." spat Vic, and he fired, ending the thug's life.

His partner tried to dive on his dropped machine gun, but Vic kicked it away, and then kicked the man in the kidneys. The man cursed in pain and dove at Vic knocking him back. He then tried to go for his pistol, but Vic peppered him in the face with a right jab, and followed it with a left hook. The man stumbled back trying to put space between him, and Vic, but it didn't work. Vic hit him again, this time going downstairs below the belt with his knee. The man cried out in pain, but Vic wasn't done. He grabbed the gunmen by the back of his head and slammed it hard on the hood of the squad car. The man fell to ground again, and Vic was right on top off him, raining blow after blow to his face, until finally the man went still, completely knocked out.

Meanwhile, the team leader and his accomplice fired at Catwoman again, but she nimbly avoided all of their shots.

"Is that all you got, boys." she taunted having avoided their bullets again, "I was hoping you Jokerz would give me some kind of challenge."

"We'll show you, bitch!" roared the frustrated team leader.

They aimed at her again, but this time she jumped high and landed between them. She lashed out with her whip, disarming the other gunman. She raked the team leader, with her claws, cutting into his shoulder, and stunning him. She then hit his accomplice with a spin kick, knocking him back. Catwoman heard a click, and then she jumped high again, back flipping and vaulting over the team leader as he let loose another burst of gunfire.

Unfortunately though, he had fired where she had just been, which had been right between him and his accomplice. The accomplice cried out in pain, as his team leader's bullets cut into him, and then he fell to the ground, silent. The team leader roared in anger, and threw his gun down in disgust. He then drew his knife.

"That's it!" he screamed, and then charged Catwoman, swinging his knife wildly at her.

Not fazed in the slightest, Catwoman avoided his first swing, and countered his next by catching his arm, wrenching it to the side hard, and then nailing him with a high side kick that caught him in the side of the ribs. The man stumbled but didn't go down, but instead thrust the knife at Catwoman's midsection. She dodged him again, and caught him with a swipe of her claws, that cut his cheek open. The man yelled in pain and anger, and charged at her again, knife raised high.

"Big mistake." muttered Catwoman, slyly.

She pulled her whip from her belt and let it fly. It wrapped around the man's throat, stopping his charge, and with a strong tug, she pulled him in close. She hit him with a palm strike that brutally snapped his head to the side, and then she did a dramatic back flip, her leg extending out and catching him right in the chin, taking him down.

Inside the lobby, the gun battle continued, but neither side was really gaining an advantage.

Gerard had finally had enough, "I'll draw fire, you take him out!" he yelled to Sonia, who bandaging the wounded desk sergeant.

"Alright, go!" Sonia replied, her gun at the ready.

Gerard stood up, and took off running off to the side. One of the gunmen saw him, fired, but missed, his shots going over Gerard's head. That was his last mistake, as Sonia's return fire hit its mark, taking him out. The last remaining gunmen tried to fire at Sonia, but Gerard saw him first. He took, aim and fired once. That one shot was all that was needed, and just like that it was all over.

"You ok?" asked Sonia, as she ran over to her partner.

"I am fine." answered Gerard, "But who was what that assisted us?"

"That would be little old me." came Catwoman's sultry reply as she slinked into the lobby.

"Catwoman." said Gerard, his eyes narrowing in habit.

"Well, if it isn't Detectives Stephens and Alcana." said Catwoman smoothly, "Been awhile since you two chased me up a fire escape in the Diamond District hasn't it."

"The Bat said you'd left when we last asked him about you." said Sonia, suspiciously, "When did you get back?"

"Recently." was Catwoman's answer, "Have to admit, I kind off missed this old cesspool of a city."

"So you carry a gun now?" asked Gerard, "Cause I could of sworn I heard shooting outside that didn't come from any of the perps."

"No, that was me." said Vic as he walked, gun in hand, showing it to the two detectives.

"Well if it isn't Vic Mackey." said Sonia in a voice full of displeasure.

"Hey Sonia, how've you been?" asked Vic with a grin.

"That's Detective Alcana to you, Vic." snapped Sonia, "We appreciate the help, but what are you doing here anyway?"

"I had some intel for Harvey." was Vic's answer, "I was just coming to deliver it."

"Wait, you are Vic Mackey?" asked Gerard, "The informant that Harvey always goes to for gang intel?"

"Yep, that's me?" said Vic with a chuckle, then he turned his attention to Catwoman.

"So you're the famous Catwoman, that I hear stories about sometimes." he said, eyeing Catwoman's tight leather suit, "Nice costume."

"Thanks, you should see me when I am out of it." was Catwoman's seductive reply, "But enough of that, I have an important message from Batman for Gordon, I need to speak with him, now."

Gerard's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh no, The Commissioner!" he shouted as he rushed to the elevators where the five gunmen had gone up just moments earlier.

 **The MCU Squad Room, just a few moments earlier**

Two uniforms and a detective from the Robbery Unit were immediately blown away by machine gun fire as soon as the elevator doors opened. They had been waiting on the elevator, only be greeted by five gun toting, face painted assassins, they never stood a chance. The five thugs then began spraying the entire squad room with bullets, shattering glass, and ripping through desks. Everyone in the room was sent scrambling for cover. Cris was the first to return fire, followed shortly by Renee and Nelson, but their shots didn't bring anyone down. They were forced to duck as the gunman took aim at them, let loose a stream of bullets. Harvey pulled his revolver from his shoulder holster, and fired, striking one of the gunman in the neck. Blood spurted out of the wound, as the man choked, and fell to the ground, writhing. The man next to him cursed, and fired a burst at Bullock, who dove for cover behind the vending machines. The bullets tore into the vending machines, but Harvey was unhurt. He fired back again, but this time only managed to hit the gunman's armored torsos, which gave him an idea.

"Aim for the heads and necks!" he yelled, reloading his revolver, "They are the only areas not armored."

Taking his advice, Jamie, Gordon, Sarge, Nelson, Renee, and Cris all leaned out, and fired, this time aiming for their unprotected heads. This time they were more successful, one more gunman went down while the rest were forced to duck into the prone position. The door to the Captain's office opened, and out stepped Captain Sawyer, and Detectives Driver and Chandler, cautiously, with guns drawn.

"How many?" called Captain Sawyer to the Commissioner.

"There were five, but now there are only three." was Commissioner Gordon's answer.

Sarge fired three shots, but missed. The gunmen responded with another burst of automatic gunfire, hitting a detective in the chest. Sarge watched the man go down, roared in anger, and took aim. He found his target, and squeezed the trigger of his pistol. The round cleaved a trench through the thug's head, splashing his two companions with blood. They looked at each other, realization at their situation setting in.

"I suggest you throw down your weapons and surrender now!" called Marcus's voice to the gunman.

"This only going to get uglier for you!" called Jamie, "If you want to live I suggest you listen to him!"

"Never!" yelled one of the gunman, "The great Joker has entrusted us with ridding the city of that unfunny, hack of a Commissioner."

He stood up glaring defiantly at the cops, whose guns where all trained on him, and raised his machine gun, aiming for the Commissioner, "We will complete our task, even in the face of our own..." BANG!

His eyes widened in surprise as the hole appeared in his forehead, and he began his descent to the floor. Captain Sawyer just shook her head in disgust as she lowered her smoking pistol. The last gunman looked at the bodies of his dead teammates, and then looked up, as the Commissioner, Captain Sawyer, Harvey, Jamie, Sarge, Marcus, Romy, Renee, Cris, and several other cops in the room advanced on him, weapons aimed at him.

"What about you?" asked the Commissioner firmly, "Will you do the smart thing?"

"Please do the dumb thing?" growled Harvey, his finger tightening on his guns trigger, "Please?"

The man weighed his odds, then dropped his machine gun, and raised his hands in surrender. Commissioner Gordon nodded, and then motioned to Renee and Cris, who approached the man, cuffed him, and led him away. Sarge and Nelson checked on the downed cops at the elevators entrance.

"How are they?" asked Romy.

"They're gone." answered Nelson sadly.

Sarge shook his head, "This is Terminal's doing, him and that green haired freak's."

"Hey, someone's coming up." said Marcus, who had noticed the moving lights of the elevator's numbers. The four of them drew their guns again and waited to see if more gunmen would come out, but put them away when Gerard and Sonia stepped out, followed by Vic.

"Are you two ok?" asked Commissioner Gordon as soon as he noticed them.

"We are fine." said Gerard, "The sarge downstairs needs a bus, they got three of ours, we've also got 8 dead perps, and 3 unconscious ones."

"You two took out eleven heavily armed perps all by yourselves? asked an incredulous Cris as he and Renee walked up to them after they'd secured the surviving gunman.

"Not exactly." said Sonia, she motioned to Vic, "We had some help."

They all turned and looked at Vic, who just stood there with his arms folded.

"Who are you?" asked Marcus.

Vic opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Harvey as he and Jamie walked up to the group.

"His name is Vic Mackey, one of my informants." said Harvey, "Thanks for the assistance Vic, didn't know you carried a piece, though."

"Never leave home without it, Harv." said Vic with a grin. He opened his jacket and showed them the Desert Eagle in his shoulder holster. Jamie eyes widened at the sized of the weapon.

"Don't you think that's a little overkill?" he said to Vic.

Vic just laughed, "Listen kid, if there is one thing I know, is that it pays to have a bigger gun than your enemy."

He walked into the squad room, looking around at all the bullet hole filled damage.

"So this is the famous squad room of the GCPD's elite Major Crimes Unit." he said, _It's not like The Barn, but I guess it works_ , were his thoughts.

Commissioner Gordon noticed Vic, and walked up to him.

"What are you doing here, Vic?" asked Gordon. Vic was Gordon's least favorite of Bullock's informants. He considered him nothing but a rude, meat head, who got his information through force.

"Oh, come on, Commish." replied Vic, "If wasn't for me, two of your detectives would be in the chop shop right now, getting lead pulled from their bodies."

"I think I had more to contribute to the save, than you did, Mr. Mackey." came a voice that caused Gordon to groan, he was all to familiar with the voice's owner.

Gordon and Vic turned around to face Catwoman, who had pulled a Batman, and had just appeared in the middle of squad room as if by magic, much to Vic's shock.

"How did you.." he began, before Catwoman cut him off.

"Trade secret." she said, she looked to Gordon with a bright smile, "Hiya Jim, long time no see."

Gordon answered her smile with a frown, "Not long enough, what are you doing here Ms. Kyle, I ought to arrest you right now.'

"Well that's a nice thank you for the person who helped stop this attack." said Catwoman indignantly.

Gordon raised his eyebrows, "You really expect me to believe that."

"It's true, Commish." said Gerard as he walked up to join them, "She took out the leader with her bare hands, or should I say bare claws in this case."

"Not to mention the fact that I also stopped an assassination attempt on the Mayor, and I have information from Batman on the location of Terminal." added Catwoman.

"Ok, where then?" demanded Gordon, "This son of a bitch just sent a death squad to the headquarters of my police force, which resulted in the death of nine of my officers, I want this guy!"

While they were talking, Jamie had walked over and noticed Catwoman, or more specifically her outfit, and nudged his partner who was standing next to him.

"Who's the girl in spandex?" he asked.

Harvey snorted, "Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, best thief in the city, hardest to catch to."

"What is she doing here, why isn't she in cuffs?" asked Jamie?

"Well, apparently she had information on Terminal's whereabouts." said Harvey with a shrug of his shoulders, "Besides I think the Bat has a soft spot for her, if you know what I mean, that's why I think we have a hard time catching her, because he lets her go."

"Really?" said Jamie puzzled, "You sure about that?"

Harvey just shrugged, "Can't say for certain, but you never know."

"Arkham Asylum." answered Catwoman once Gordon's rant was over, "He is going there to bust Joker out of Extreme Isolation, Batman was heading there to cut him off, he sent me to assist you once he found out about the attacks on GCPD Headquarters, and other locations around Gotham."

"Other attacks?" asked Gordon, much to alarm of everyone in the room.

"Commissioner!" came a Irish accented, shout from Gordon's right.

He turned, and saw a tall, clean shaven man, with dark hair, brown eyes, and dressed in full uniform and cap hurrying towards him. It was a member of his command staff, Chief Miles O'Hara.

"We're gettin calls from Precincts all over the city." he said in his thick Irish brogue once he reached the Commissioner, "Multiple bands of armed Jokerz attacking and burning all over the place, sir, we got a full scale attack on our hands.

The Commissioner, his face growing paler by the minute, turned and walked over to the window that overlooked the city. What he saw horrified him. Multiple fires had been set, with smoke rising into the sky, parts of Gotham were burning.

The other detectives also saw this, they looked to their Commissioner.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Harvey, his face serious.

Gordon turned back to them, with a determined look, "We are going to get to work." he said, "Harvey; You, Jamie, Chris, Renee, Marcus, and Romy are coming with me, we are going to assist Batman at Arkham, If Joker escapes, armed gunmen in the streets will the least of our problems, I'll contact Lt. Hennelly and have the Quick Response Team assist us."

"Yes sir." answered Harvey.

"Miles." Gordon said to Chief O'Hara, "You'll be in charge at operations here at HQ, mobilize SWAT Units to contain the gunmen in the streets, I want them dealt with before anymore violence breaks out, and people start to panic, have all units assist them."

"Of course, sir." said Chief O'Hara with a nod.

"Captain Sawyer, you're in charge of field operations." Gordon said to Maggie, "You'll be out there, coordinating containment efforts will the SWAT commanders, they'll answer to you, and you'll answer to Chief O'Hara, who answers to me."

"Yes sir." answered Maggie.

"Alright people, listen !" called Gordon to the entire group standing there, "Remember, we are the GCPD, we represent law and order in this city, and we will show the people of Gotham that we are in control, not the scum that are currently terrorizing our streets."

This earned a cheer from those standing there, and then everyone went off to do the tasks they were assigned to them.

"Hey, what about me." protested Vic, "I want in on this, what do you need me to do?"

"I am not sitting this one out either, Gordon." said Catwoman, "I don't need your approval to operate, I am going to help Batman stop Joker."

Gordon looked at them for a few minutes, his mind weighing his options, before he spoke, his decision made.

"Fine, consider yourselves deputized." he said, his face solemn and serious, "But you are both coming with me."

 **About ten minutes earlier**

 **Location: Entrance to Arkham Asylum, Arkham Island**

 **Time: 4:20 A.M.**

The guard sighed in boredom, and looked at his partner, "Why are we stuck on guard duty, while the city is tearing itself apart again across the water, we should be helping or something."

His partner just shook his head, "Orders are orders." was the reply, "We have to make sure that no one gets into the Asylum without authorization, besides remember all the crazies we are guarding."

"Yeah, I know." the guard reluctantly admitted, "It's just, ever since Dr. Arkham hired that new Warden, this place hasn't been as exciting."

The other guard snorted, "Do you want breakouts and escapes every single month; The Joker alone has broke out of this place more times than any of the other inmates combined, this place was a dump, before Warden Sharp instituted those new security measures."

That much was true. Arkham Asylum had gained something of a reputation as a revolving door, that couldn't hold its inmates, or "patients" as the doctors preferred to call them. It was also apparent, despite the hard work of the psychiatrists at the facility, that the majority of the inmates were nowhere near being cured of their insanity. Desiring to change this, the Administrator Director of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham had hired a new warden, Quincy Sharp, who had immediately instituted new state of the art security measures, and stricter treatment plans for the more dangerous "patients." The Asylum itself was a massive, sprawling complex, complete with the old Arkham Family Mansion that served as the administration's office, an Intensive Treatment Center that also housed its Extreme Isolation Unit, a Penitentiary, a Docks, a guard barracks and a Botanical Gardens.

The two guards were stationed in the guard box near the front gate entrance to the facility, their orders were to stop, and search any non authorized vehicles who tried to pass. They had noticed that there were several plumes of smoke coming from Gotham City across the bridge, indicating that the city was on fire, but there was nothing they could do about it at the moment.

"Hey, whats that?" the first guard asked pointing down the road.

The other guard followed his partner's hand, and saw what he saw. There were headlights down the road, coming right at them. They were shining from a large, black van, in fact, it wasn't the only one. There were four other vans just like it, following right behind. They came to a stop, just right in front of the gate. The guards looked at each other, these vehicles were not authorized, and something about them wasn't right.

"Should I radio it in?" asked the first guard.

The second guard shook his head, "Not yet, let's check it out ourselves first."

He put on his helmet, picked up his assault rifle, and slammed a clip into it. His partner followed suit. They were dressed in tactical gear that had the Arkham logo on it, combat pants, helmets, with mesh face plates, and were armed with Heckler and Koch G36 Assault Rifles, Colt 9 mm pistols, pepper spray, and night sticks. They exited the guard house, and approached the first van, guns raised.

"You are in a restricted area." the first guard called out to the van, "Now, please exit the van, and prepare to be searched."

There was no answer, the van's engines didn't even turn off. The guards looked at each other, nervousness starting to build between them.

"I'll radio this in and call for back up." said the first guard.

Then, all of a sudden, the door to the first van opened, and the driver got out. At first the guards couldn't make him out due the dark, but as soon he walked into the headlights, their eyes widened at his appearance. He had long, greasy hair, white and black face paint, and was wearing what looked like to be a modified straight jacket, and dirty black pants.

"Don't move!" The guard's shouted as soon as they had found their voices, their guns aimed at the freakish looking figure.

Terminal just laughed, "You guards, so angry, you take yourselves way too seriously."

"I am warning you!" yelled one of the guards, his finger tightening on the trigger.

"Do you really have such mundane lives, that you don't have time for any joy?" Terminal asked, "All I am asking is that once in awhile, that you smile..."

He tossed something at the guard's feet. It was a yellow orb, about the sized of a golf ball, with a black smiley face on it.

"And LAUGH." said Terminal, finishing his sentence.

The orb exploded, and out of it came a large cloud of green gas. The guard began coughing, their masks not keeping the gas out of their lungs, but then something strange happened. They fell to the ground, and started to writhe and flop around like two fish, but then...

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA." laughed one the guards, followed shortly by his partner.

"Now that's more like it!" shouted Terminal with a smile, "Now this is laughter worth dying for, as you shall soon experience."

They were really laughing now, like two hyenas. But finally, the laughter died down, and the guard's bodies went still, the toxin stopping their hearts. Terminal walked over, and pulled off one of the guard's masks. The guard's mouth had been pulled into a wide, sardonic, smile, post mortem, and tears were coming out of his widened eyes. His partner's body was in exactly the same condition. Terminal looked down at the morbid scene, and couldn't help but smile himself. It was a truly wonderful thing, Joker Venom, a toxin that could come in either a gas or liquid form, and it was always fun to watch it in use.

Terminal looked up at the gate, with the letters "ARKHAM ASYLUM" emblazoned at the top. He spent some time here, years ago, and had hated every minute of it. It felt good to finally be able to get some kind of payback.

"Alright, my brothers this it!" Terminal called to the Jokerz who were inside the vans behind him, "We now began our assault to free our great leader, and no one will stand in our way, not even Batman!"

With that, the assembled Jokerz piled out of the vans, armed with all sorts of weapons, and began the advance on Arkham Asylum.

 **Meanwhile**

 **Location: Corner of Martin Luther King Blvd, The Diamond District**

 **Time: 4:23 A.M.**

"This is just the beginning!" yelled the handcuffed Jokerz member as he was loaded into the paddy wagon with the other gang members who weren't dead or injured, "We will laugh tonight as this city is burned to the..."

"Alright, shut up." snapped GCPD SWAT Commander, Sergeant Kyle Rourk, as he silenced the gang member's tirade with a hard slap to the back of the head, "Get this punk outta here already!"

As the paddy wagon drove off, Sergeant Rourk looked at the scene around him and shook his head. He and his team had been clearing the streets of Jokerz ever since the rioting had begun, often engaging them in brief gun battles. So far, his team hadn't taken any casualties, but it didn't look like The Jokerz were giving up any time soon. Rourk, a tall, stern man, with dark hair, serious brown eyes, and was dressed in GCPD SWAT tactical gear; had ordered his team back to the field headquarters, when they had come under fire from a band of five Jokerz. Their return fire had killed two of them, and convinced the other three to surrender, which was why Kyle had called a wagon to pick them up.

"All right, good work everyone." Rourk said to the members of his team standing with him, "Let's head back to the field HQ to plan our next move."

"What if there are more out there, sir?" asked Officer Sharon Peters, the youngest and newest member of his team.

Kyle sighed, "That's a risk we are just going to have to take, we were due back at field HQ ten minutes ago."

They all nodded back to him, and got into their SWAT van to begin the drive back. There were seven of them total, all dressed in the same kind of tactical gear, and armed with AR- 15 Assault Rifles, Glock 17 pistols, night sticks, mace, and flex cuffs. Sergeant Rourk was the team leader, a ten year veteran of the force, his second in command was Detective Marcie Brown, a woman of medium height with short brown hair and green eyes, the team sniper was former Marine, Officer Will Gilpatrick, a tall, taciturn cop, with a black crew cut, and brown, hardened eyes, Officer Jesse Reese, an African American, with short brown hair, and gray eyes, was the team's point man, the first to go into a building in any assault scenario. The other three officers were Lynn Xui, a Chinese American woman with short, dark hair, and serious green eyes, Kevin Bryars, a short, but muscular man, with short, red hair, and blue eyes, and Sharon, who was tall, with short blond hair, and hazel eyes. They served as the advance assault behind Reese, while Rourk and Brown brought up the rear, with Gilpatrick usually outside in a prime sniping position.

They drove to a fancy cafe on 12th Street that had been commandeered by the police to serve as filed headquarters. They parked their vans, got out, and headed into the cafe. At the back of the cafe, near the counter, were a group of assemble offices, all discussing their next moves. It was from there, that Captain Maggie Sawyer of the MCU, and the highest ranked officer on sight, noticed their arrival. She wasn't alone, standing with her were Sarge Davies, Detectives Nelson Crowe, Gerard Stephens, and Sonia Alcana.

"Sergeant Rourk, thank goodness you and your team are all right." she said, relieved, "When I heard gunfire over your radios, I feared the worst."

"We are alright, Captain." replied Kyle, "Some Jokerz decided to take some pot shots at us, we dealt with them, and called a wagon to haul off what was left."

"Good." said Captain Sawyer, "Now you can give me your report, what's going on out there."

"We were able to clear the Jokerz out of the majority of the Diamond District." said Kyle, but then his voice turned concerned, "But I don't think this anywhere close to being over."

"But we've heard reports of other attacks in other districts." said Lynn, "Captain if I may say, I feel we should press the advantage."

"I agree." said Captain Sawyer her voice grave, "I am hearing reports from the Narrows, the Bowery, Burnley, the Amusement Mile, the Cauldron, and Chinatown of violent encounters between police and Jokerz, there have been a few causalities I am afraid, and Chief O'Hara has had to send reinforcements to the Precincts in those Districts."

Suddenly, a radio crackled to life, calling for help.

 _"Hello, Hello, this Lt. Ronald Probson, calling field HQ, we are taking fire, and in need of backup!"_ came the voice over the radio.

Maggie picked up the radio, "This Captain Sawyer, don't panic "Probe" we are on our way." she said into it.

 _"I'd appreciate that, but please stop calling me "Probe" Captain."_ protested the radio over the sound of gunfire.

Despite the situation, the others couldn't help but laugh. Lieutenant Probson, the commander of the MCU's midnight shift, was one of the best interrogator's the GCPD had, which was how he'd earned his nickname, "The Probe."

"Lt. Probson and his men are set up in a hardware store, about five blocks from here." said Captain Sawyer, "We'd better hurry."

They all left the cafe and all piled into two SWAT Vans, with the Captain and her Detectives in one, and Sgt. Rourk and his team in the other. They drove down the surprisingly quiet streets of the Diamond District, heading for Lt. Probson's position. They got about two blocks, when all of a sudden, a purple semi truck pulling a trailer drove right in front of them, and stopped, block their path.

Kyle honked at it, "Move!" he yelled, "This is a Police emergency!"

The semi truck's window, and a tube poked out through it, and Kyle's eyes widened in horror when as he recognized what it was.

"RPG." he shouted, turning the wheel to the left as hard as he could.

The rocket fired, and slammed into the turning van's back tires, blowing them off, denting the Van's armored hull, and flipping it over upside down. Captain Sawyer stopped her van, right before she almost crashed into Kyle's disabled vehicle, and observed the scene before them. Two face painted Jokerz armed with with machine guns got out of the semi's cab, while four more got out of the trailer, and immediately opened fire. Keeping his head down, Kyle leaned out of the driver's side window, pistol in hand, and returned fire, but unfortunately the rest of his team had been rattled by the RPG shell, and would be out of commission for a little bit. Seeing this, Captain Sawyer made a decision.

"Everybody, keep your heads down!" she ordered, and then she gunned the engines, heading right for The Jokerz's lines.

"Are you sure this such a good idea, Captain?" asked Nelson nervously, catching on to what his Captain was going to do.

"No, but this the only option we have." was the reply, "So please, Detective, just keep your head down."

The Jokerz saw the SWAT Van barreling towards them, and opened fire on it, hoping to kill the driver, and stop it. When the van didn't stop, they tried to hurl themselves out of the way, but it was too late. The van ran right over two of them, and hit another one head one, sending him bounding right onto the hood of the semi. The other three thugs went to surround the van, but suddenly a loud crack pierced the air, and one thug went down with a high velocity sniper round in his noggin.

Officer Will Gilpatrick, the team sniper had recovered from the RPG blast, and had taken a prone position next to the downed van with his M24 SWS sniper rifle, which was currently aimed at the remaining two thugs. His teammates had also recovered, albeit with a couple headaches, and were advancing on the thugs, guns drawn. The door to the van flung open, and the Captain, Sarge, Nelson, Gerard, and Sonia jumped out, pistols at the ready. The two thugs were completely surrounded.

"Drop your weapons, and put your hands on your heads." ordered Sonia.

The two thugs looked at each other, and did as they were told.

"Smart men." said Kevin, lowering his assault rifle.

They cuffed the two men to a nearby light post. They would have some uniforms pick them up later, but they still had to reach Lt. Probson and his men before they were blasted to bits.

"So, now what do we do?" asked Sarge, "I don't think the vans are in good driving condition."

Marcie shook her head, "Ours is toast." she said, "And yours has taken a beating due to gunfire."

"Any ideas, Captain?" asked Kyle.

Captain Sawyer thought to herself for a minute, looked at the thug's semi, and then smiled slyly, "I think I may have one."

 **Meanwhile**

 **Location: Hal's Hardware, The Diamond District**

 **Time: 4:30 A.M.**

Lieutenant Ronald Probson, the commander of MCU's night shift, had seen better days on the job. Sure he'd been shot at before, comes with the territory of trying to police Gotham City, but this particular incident wasn't like those other times. It was worse. Bullets were coming at the them from all directions, bouncing of the pavement, and shattering glass, and tools all around them. Only the solid brick walls of the hardware store kept them at bay. The tall man, with short dark, hair, blue eyes, and a stern face, ducked as a bullet whizzed over his head, striking a power drill behind him, and blowing it to bits. He dusted off his white dress shirt and black slacks, and cursed under his breath. Where was the Captain with the back up. He and the detectives he'd been working with had been setting up a second field HQ in the hardware store, when five cars full of Jokerz had pulled up and opened fired on them. Three uniforms had already been killed, and four had been injured, and they were starting to run out of ammo. There were just five of them left in fighting shape, Lt. Probson, Detectives Tommy Burke, and Dagmar Procjnow from MCU's night shift, along with Detectives Melody McKenna, and Nick Gage from Homicide.

"Burke, how many clips do you have left!" he shouted to Detective Tommy Burke, over the chatter of machine gun fire. Burke was a man of medium height, with dark, fair hair, brown eyes, and was dressed in a leather jacket, jeans, and a red shirt.

"One!" was Tommy's reply, "But Dagmar's got two left, I think."

"Actually, I am down to my back up piece!" yelled his partner, Detective Dagmar Procjnow, an African American woman with long black hair tied up in a bun, brown eyes, and was dressed in a dark blue suit, and white dress shirt. She fired a couple rounds at Jokerz, taking one of them down.

"When's the Captain coming with that backup, Lieutenant?" asked Nick, "Cause I don't know how much longer we can hold out here."

"I don't know!" yelled Lt. Probson, firing off a few rounds as he did, "I just lost radio contact with her, they might of been ambushed."

"Well, that's just great!" yelled Melody. She leaned out and blasted a couple of rounds at the gang members lines, "So I wonder where the oh so great Batman is now, well he isn't here, is he!"

"Now's is not the time, Melody!" groaned Nick angrily, as he reloaded his gun.

A shot from Tommy's pistol took another Jokerz thug down, but immediately two replaced him.

"How many of these guys are there?" asked Dagmar incredulously.

Tommy's gun clicked, and he frowned, "That's it I am out, well it's been nice knowing all of you, I hope they put a plague up to remember us by."

A typical Detective Burke response. He was known as the MCU's resident class clown and jokester, much to his more serious partner's chagrin.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Tommy." said an exasperated Dagmar.

"I am not joking." replied Tommy, "I think a large golden plague with of all our accomplishments listed on them."

"I meant about the dying part!" yelled Dagmar, "We are not going to die."

Tommy snorted, and motioned towards The Jokerz, "Tell them that." he said as a couple of bullets whizzed by their heads, forcing them to duck.

On the other side of the street, the leader of the Jokerz gang sent to wipe out the cops at the hardware store, smiled in triumph. Even though the cops had managed to take out a few of his fellow face painted thugs, for once luck was on the side of the criminal. There were ten men still standing, way outnumbering the cops, and they had machine guns and assault rifles, while the cops only had their standard issue pistols.

"Press forward!" called the leader, "Wipe these unfunny pigs off the face of the Earth!" The men laughed and began to surge forward, but unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from an alley behind them. He had been watching the battle since its beginning, waiting for the the right moment to intervene. That time, was now.

"The time has come." the figure muttered to himself, solemnly, "To add another soul to the cloak."

He concentrated, and then vanished in a small green flash, only to then reappear in front of the advancing thugs. As soon the thugs and the police saw him, they stopped their gun battle, their jaws dropped at the sight of this figure who had just manifested out of nowhere. He stood at almost 5' 11", but what puzzled everyone the most was his choice of clothing. He was wearing a green cloak, with a raggedy cape, a green hood and mask, his eyes just plain yellow orbs, green gloves, and a costume that seemed to have been stitched together out of different pieces of colored cloth. Blue, green, red, yellow, orange, and several different other colors they couldn't identify. Lt. Probson rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Despite all the strange stuff he'd seen in all his years as a Gotham City police officer, he'd never seen a costume quite like this.

The leader of the Jokerz found his voice first, "What the heck are you!" he demanded.

The figure's eyes narrowed, "I am Ragman." he said calmly, "And I've come for your soul."

"It's a demon." shouted one the other thugs, and he opened fire, followed by several of his friends. Ragman took the bullets, but to the surprise of everyone, they didn't seem to have any effect. Ragman suddenly vanished, only to appear in front of the scared thug who'd first opened fire on him.

"You really shouldn't have done that." said Ragman, and he planted his fist in the thug's face, and then followed with a palm strike to his chest. There was a ripple of energy, and the thug was suddenly shot backwards, crashing hard into a brick wall, and collapsing into a heap. Another thug, who probably had the lowest IQ of them all, charged at Ragman, fist raised. Ragman caught the fist as if it was nothing, and crushed it into powder. The thug screamed and held his ruined hand, but Ragman ended his scream with a vicious haymaker that knocked him unconscious. Ragman then turned his gaze to the other eight, heavily, but very terrified Jokerz members. They were used to dealing with Batman, and he already terrified them enough. They weren't even sure if Batman was even human, but at least he didn't say he was going to take their souls. But this Ragman character was almost just as terrifying. His eyes seemed to focus on the the Jokerz team leader.

"Yours will do nicely." he said, then his eyes narrowed in focus.

They all tried to fire, but Ragman waved his hand to the side. A green energy enveloped their weapons, and to the surprise of the criminals, their guns magazines promptly fell out. Ragman then raised his hands again, and this time four of the thugs were elevated telekineticly into the air. He pushed his hands forward and the thugs were sent flying. Two of the slammed into the windows of cars, shattering the glass, and the other two were sent careening into another wall. Ragman then vanished again, appearing behind another thug, and vanishing with him. The thug reappeared, but this time he was almost ten feet in the air. Gravity then took hold, and he was sent plummeting back to the street, screaming the entire way down. He hit the pavement hard, breaking his back, and both his ankles. Ragman then appeared again off to the side, facing the last two thugs, and their leader.

"It's time to finish this." he said.

The cape of his cloak shot out, ensnaring two of them in it's folds. Ragman brought them in close, and nailed them with punches that knocked their lights out. Ragman let them go, and turned his focus on the leader, who was the last thug standing. By this time, the leader had decided he wasn't going to win this one, and had made a run for it, but he didn't get far. The folds of Ragman's cloak snaked after him, catching him by his ankles, and reeling him in like the catch of the day. The folds continued to wrap around him like a cocoon, until only his face was poking out, and Ragman was staring down at him. The leader tried to struggle, but suddenly a strange feeling came over him, a very unpleasant one. It was like something was inside of him, and ripping something out.

"What are you doing?" the Jokerz leader choked out, it was becoming hard for him to speak.

"You've led a very evil life, Fred Timms." stated Ragman, "A life filled with pain and suffering for everyone you've ever met, the time has come to pay for your sins."

 _"It knows my name!"_ the leader thought to himself, "What are you talking about!"

"My cloak, "The Suit of Souls" is made up of the souls of evil doers that I've ensnared in it." continued Ragman, "I am going to take your soul from your body, it will become a new patch in my cloak, and I will draw upon your energy for the strength to do good, your body will be left behind as a mindless husk, but don't worry, once I've done enough good with your energy, you shall be released from this world."

"NO, YOU CAN'T!" cried the leader, terrified at what was being done to him. He tried to struggle, but it was no use, and that unpleasant feeling like something was being taken away from him, which was his soul, was getting stronger, and more painful.

Lt. Probson couldn't believe what was happening right in front of him, he couldn't let this happen.

"Stop him!" he ordered to his detectives, and they all charged forward, guns drawn.

"GCPD, let him go, vigilante!" shouted Melody, her pistol aimed at Ragman's head.

Ragman noticed the cops, and waved his hands, The pistol clips, just like the magazines in the thug's machine guns earlier, fell out, and the guns jammed.

"You can't interrupt the process." said Ragman, "I must do as the suit commands."

"This isn't right!" protested Lt. Probson. "We can't take the law into our own hands, not even Batman operates like this."

"Do I look like Batman." stated Ragman, and he turned his focus back to draining the thug's soul.

The thug writhed, and struggled, but eventually went limp. The folds of Ragman's cloak, unraveled from the body, leaving it lying there, with a blank look in it's eyes, and drool coming from the corner of it's mouth.

Ragman turned back to the detectives, who were staring at him, eyes wide, completely shocked by what they'd just witnessed.

"It is done." he said, "His soul is now another patch on my suit, your Captain should be here soon, from what I've gathered from Timm's memories, that were a little delayed due an ambush, I shall take my leave now, there are more out there to gather."

With that, right before the detective's eyes, he vanished in a flash of green.

"What was that?" asked Dagmar incredously.

"I don't know, Detective." answered Lt. Probson. "And I am not sure I want to."

Melody eyed her partner, who was looking a little bit uncomfortable.

"Still think all vigilantes are noble, Nick?" she asked sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up." muttered Nick.

A loud honk sounded at the end of the street, and a purple semi suddenly appeared, heading for them. Tommy drew his backup piece, and pointed it at the truck.

"GCPD, stop the truck!" he yelled, showing his badge.

The truck stopped, and the driver got out, but much to the relief of everybody, it was Sarge.

"Hey, Tommy, easy man." said Sarge, his hands raised, "Don't shoot."

"Oh, sorry about that, Sarge." said Tommy, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment, for his gun was still pointed at Sarge, he put it away.

Captain Sawyer got out of the passenger's side of the semi, and walked over to where Lt. Probson was standing.

"Your late, Captain." said the Lieutenant, his arms folded.

"Sorry, about that Probe." said Captain Sawyer, "We were ambushed on the way over to you position, but it looks like you've got things under control over here."

"More or less." said Lt. Probson, shaking his head, he hated that nickname, "We need to get a bus down here pronto, we've got wounded officers, and perps."

"I'll get on that." said Sarge, drawing his radio.

"Hey Captain?" said Nick, looking over the semi, "Where you'd get the big rig."

Captain Sawyer couldn't help but chuckle, "The Jokerz that ambushed us did it in this, we were able to neutralize the threat, but our SWAT vans were knocked out of commission, so I simple piled the others into the trailer, and had Sarge drive us to this location."

The others had exited the semi's trailer, and were inspecting the carnage from Ragman's attack. Nelson had taken the opportunity to light his pipe for a quick smoke, when his eyes zeroed in on the thug's team leader. He waived his hand in front of the body's eyes, but there was no response, not even a twitch.

"What happened to these guys." asked Gerard, looking down at a thug who'd been slammed through a car window, "Did you engage them in a shootout, or a street brawl."

"Actually it's kind of hard to explain." said Nick.

"Was it The Batman?" asked Kyle, his arms folded.

"No." said Dagmar, shaking her head, "He called himself Ragman."

"What kind of name is that?" scoffed Will.

"The name may be weird." admitted Tommy, "But their was nothing funny or pleasant about this guy, trust me on that."

"What do you mean?" asked Sonia.

"This guy was a Meta." said Nick, "He had actual super powers, bullets didn't hurt him, he sent four of them flying with some kind of telekinesis, his cloak could wrap them up almost like a boa constrictor."

"Your forgetting the best part." said Melody, with a triumphant smile.

Nick sighed, "And he can apparently steal souls from bodies."

"WHAT!" shouted all the newcomers, even the Captain was stunned.

"Yep, saw it plain as day myself." admitted the Lieutenant. "He wrapped the team leader in his cloak, went on some long tangent about punishing evil doers by taking their souls and adding them to his costume, and poof; the perp goes all lights out, nobody home, and then the Meta vanishes without a trace."

"Did you try to stop him?" asked the Captain, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, we did." answered the Lieutenant, "But he used his magic mumbo jumbo to jam up our guns, and make the clips fall out, he did the same thing to the perps to."

"Too weird." muttered Marcie, "Where do you think he went?"

"Doesn't matter." said the Captain, "He's long gone, we still got things to do here." Her radio suddenly crackled to life.

 _"Calling all units, this is Commissioner Gordon requesting all units converge on Arkham Asylum, this is a Code Red!_ " Commissioner Gordon's voice shouted over the radio.

Everybody stopped, stunned where they were. There was only one thing that warranted a "Code Red" in Gotham City, only one thing. The next radio broadcast confirmed their worst fears.

 _"The Joker is free, Batman is in pursuit, but I repeat THE JOKER IS FREE!"_

 **Meanwhile about 10 minutes earlier**

 **Location: Intensive Treatment, Arkham Asylum, Arkham Island**

 **Time: 4:25 A.M.**

"You know why is it that we always get stuck doing the grunt work?" grumbled one the two Jokerz thugs as they patrolled the hallways of Arkham Asylum's Intensive Treatment Center.

"Hey you heard what Terminal said." stated his partner, "We are to sweep the grounds of the Asylum, and make sure the guards are contained in their barracks, Terminal said Joker's got a special plan for them."

The first thug shivered, "I don't what to know that is."

"Me neither." agreed his partner, "A few that did ask though, later told me they'd wished they hadn't

They continued walked along, unaware of the cloaked shadow that was following them silently.

"Hey, you know..." was all the first thug was able to get out before the shadow descended upon him and his partner.

As quick as a whip, the shadow lashed out with it's gloved hands, grabbing the two goons by the sides of their heads, and slamming them together. The thugs dropped their automatics, and collapsed in a heap, completely unconscious. Batman stood up from his crouch position, but he didn't stick around to admire his work. After warning Gordon of the incoming attack, he'd made his way to Arkham Asylum via the Batwing, dropping himself into the Bat Cave that he'd set up on Arkham Island, just as Terminal and his Jokerz goons had begun their assault on the facility. Since then he'd been sneaking around the facility, silently dispatching any Jokerz he happened to come across, interrogating a few of them, until he'd finally found out where their leader was, The Extreme Isolation Unit.

To Batman's surprise, the initial casualty rate was pretty low. The first few skirmishes between the guards and The Jokerz had produced some casualties on both sides, but most the guards had surrendered, and were locked in the Barracks or the Botanical Gardens along with the orderlies, and medical staff. But if what the thugs he'd just taken out word's were anything to go by, The Joker had some far more nastier plan in mind for them. Batman rounded the corner, and there it was, the entrance to the Extreme Isolation Unit. But unfortunately, there were five heavily armed Jokerz standing between him and the door. Quickly, and quietly, he drew his Grapnel Gun and grappled up towards the stone gargoyles attached to the ceiling, in order to plan his next move. He looked all along the wall, the ceiling, and the floor, but to his disappointment, there was no grate, or vent that would take him into Extreme Isolation. If he wanted to get in, he would have to use the door, and that would mean taking out the five guards in front of it.

He would have to be quick though. It would be best for him not to allow the goons any chance to fire, and luckily he'd brought just the right gadget for the job. Batman reached into his utility belt, and pulled a grey, cylindrical device, with a button on top. It was his Weapon's Disruptor, which sent out a small electrical pulse that could jam guns, grenades, and mines. It could only do five at time though, before it had to recharge. Luckily, there were only five guns. Batman adjusted the settings, aimed, and pressed the button on the top. The Weapon's Disruptor instantly started vibrating as it sent out a pulse, instantly jamming the thug's machine guns.

 _Of course they won't know that_ , Batman though to himself, allowing a rare smirk.

He put the Weapon's Disruptor back in his belt, and pulled out something else, three, small, black orbs. They were Smoke Pellets, useful for quick escapes, distractions, cover, and if you needed to blind someone briefly so you could knock them out. Which of course is what they were going to be used for now. Batman tossed the Smoke Pellets down at the feet of the Jokerz. They were instantly enveloped in thick, black, choking smoke, surprising them all. There a few screams, and curses as the men stumbled around, unsure of what was going on. A few of thugs even pulled the triggers of their guns, only to yell in surprise in surprise and anger when they wouldn't fire. Batman activated his Detective Vision so that he could see through the smoke, and leaped from his position on the gargoyle, let his cape out, and glided down, aiming towards the goon nearest to the back.

His target was unaware of what was hurtling towards him, until Batman slammed in to him, taking him down so fast, he didn't even know what hit him. All the goon saw was a little bit of cape, and two angry eyes, before Batman's fist hit him in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. Batman didn't stop there, standing up, and letting fly two Batarangs. One struck a goon in the temple, taking him out, and the other in the stomach, doubling him over, where his face met Batman's armored knee. There was an ugly crunch as the thug's nose broke. He cried out in pain, and swung wildly, but missed, unable to see in the thick smoke. Batman nailed him with a quick two finger strike to a nerve cluster in his armpit, numbing his arm, and then finished him with a side chop to the back of the head. The smoke was finally starting to clear, and the two remaining thugs could just make out the cloaked figure of Batman, glaring at them ready to strike.

"It's the Bat!" cried one of them in mortal terror.

He charged Batman, fist raised high, but Batman caught the punch, dislocated his shoulder with a well placed elbow, doubled him over with a vicious knee to the stomach, and knocked him out by striking a nerve cluster in his back.

"Don't hurt me!" cried the last thug, raising his hands, and closing his eyes.

Batman lunged forward, grabbing the poor goon by his jacket, slamming his back into the wall, striking him in the gut, and knocking him to the ground.

"How's Terminal getting Joker out of Extreme Isolation!" he growled, looking down at the fallen gang member.

"I can't tell you that!" cried the thug, despite him being completely terrified, "I ain't no snitch."

In response, The Dark Knight cracked his knuckles, his angry glare deepening, "How about I break your bones then, starting with your ankle."

He stamped hard on the goon's left ankle, his armored boot easily snapping the bone. The thug howled in pain.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT I'LL TELL YOU!" he cried, "PLEASE STOP!"

The Caped Crusader simply folded his arms, "Start talking."

"Terminal has Dr. Young, the Warden, Professor Strange, Arkham, that one handed guard Cash, and a couple of others behind that door!" said the Jokerz member, tears streaming down his face, while he held his shattered ankle, "He know's one them will know how to open it, he has Harley with him, he let her out of her cell, but I guess she wasn't in on the plan, because she had no idea who we or Terminal was!"

Well that wasn't good. Harley Quinn was The Joker's psychotic girlfriend and second in command. Her real name was Harleen Quinzel, and she'd once been a doctor at Arkham, a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, her first patient had been The Joker, who'd twisted her mind with so many lies and false hard luck stories, that she'd convinced herself that they were in love. She'd helped him escape, and ever since then, she'd become his partner in crime, Harley Quinn, and was almost as psychotic and dangerous as he was. It was a little strange that she hadn't in on the escape plan, but he'd have to solve that mystery later.

"What's Joker's plans for the people locked in The Barracks and The Gardens?" asked Batman, hoping this one of the men who'd asked about the "special plans."

"He's going to pump those two locations full of Joker Gas." whimpered the thug, "It's supposed to be a new brand, supposed to be more painful than the last batch, please that's all I know."

Batman didn't reply. Instead he viciously punted the goon in the head, knocking him out, he'd heard enough. He walked over to the access panel for the door to the Extreme Isolation Unit, his cape trailing behind him. The panel was password protected, but that was no problem for Batman. He pulled another device out of his utility belt, this looking more like a high tech Nintendo DS, but in reality it was his Cryptographic Sequencer. The Crytographic Sequencer was good for picking electronic locks, triangulating radio broadcast positions, and listening in on radio comms. Batman thumbed the controller around on the Sequencer, going through all possible password combinations. All he had to do know was wait.

 **Meanwhile, a couple of minutes earlier**

 **Location: The Extreme Isolation Unit, Arkham Asylum, Arkham Island**

Terminal, and the nine men assembled with him glared at the assembled hostages before him, "I'll ask one more time." he hissed, "Which one of you is it?"

He pointed to the massive door that the prisoners of the Extreme Isolation Unit, which required a security palm scan, were locked behind. It was all that stood between him and his master's freedom, and he wouldn't let these cowards before him throw a wrench into his plans. But the problem was that if you entered the wrong palm into the scanner, it locked down the system for ten hours. Then nobody would be able to open it, and they needed to be long gone by then.

"You heard the man!" yelled the young blond haired, blue eyed woman standing next to him, "Tell him how to set my Puddin free!" She was of average height, 5ft 7 at best, dressed in an orange prison jump suit, her long blond hair done up in two pigtails, and was armed with a assault rifle from one of the guards. She hadn't been aware that there was a plan for escape, but she was all in if this "Terminal" could bust out her Puddin.

"Relax, Ms. Quinn." Terminal assured her, as he drew a long butcher knife, the same knife he'd used to murder Thomas Rollins, and turned to the hostages, "They're going to tell us who has access, at least they will if they don't want to find out what dismemberment feels like."

This earned a dark chuckle from the Jokerz. There were a total of eight hostages, the three guards stationed at Extreme Isolation, and Arkham's top administrators, Dr. Penelope Young, Professor Hugo Strange, Captain Aaron Cash, Warden Quincy Sharp, and Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, all sitting in a row with their hands on their heads. Dr. Young, the head of Arkham's Research Department, was a short, petite woman, with long, brown, hair that she kept tied back, calculating, but frightened blue eyes, and was dressed in grey slacks, red shirt, and white lab coat. She was in charge of all research being done at the Asylum, anything ranging from new medications, to new treatment method. Next to her was Professor Hugo Strange, the Chief Psychiatrist, was taller, with a shiny bald head, a dark grey beard and mustache, dark, horn rimmed glasses that hid his emotionless grey eyes, and was dressed in a black suit, red tie, and white shirt. He conducted most of the interviews with the more "unstable" patients, and discussed treatment plans.

Captain Aaron Cash sat next to Strange. Cash was the highest ranked member of Arkham's security forces, was a tall, African American man, with short black hair, beard, and mustache, kind green eyes, and a sharp, steel hook where his left hand used to be, thanks in part to Waylon Jones, AKA Killer Croc, who'd bitten it off and swallowed it about three years ago during an escape attempt. He was dressed in a dark blue, Arkham Security, Uniform, and black slacks. He was the commanding officer in charge of all the guards in Arkham Asylum's Security Force. The last two next to him were The Warden, and The Administrator Director. The Asylum's Warden, Quincy Sharp was probably the most unimpressive of Arkham's senior staff. He was short, round, and fat, with dull blue eyes, glasses, a balding head, that had few grey hairs plastered to the scalp. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, red tie, white shirt, and carried a black walking cane, that held a large red ruby as its handle. He was in charge of all Security Measures at Arkham, and was the second highest ranked among the staff. The highest ranked man was the Asylum's mysterious and calculating Administrator Director, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham.

Dr. Arkham was tall, very thin, with a wrinkled face that made look older than he actually was. His cold, brown eyes sat narrowed behind large, thick glasses that he couldn't see without, his hair was straw brown, and he was dressed in a long, white lab coat, blue dress shirt, black tie, and brown slacks. The last surviving member of the Arkham Family, and the grand nephew of the Asylum's founder, Amadeus Arkham, who'd gone insane, and ended up imprisoned in his own Asylum. Jeremiah had run the Asylum for the past ten years, and was respected as a psychologist. But his employees feared him, and tended to try to avoid him at all costs, usually running any requests through Sharp or Strange, the only members of the staff who'd approach him. They claimed it was his eyes, there was just something off about them.

Terminal waved the knife in the faces of the assembled hostages, turned to one of the guards that had been guarding the door to the Extreme Isolation Unit. Looking to set an example, and with a quick slash, he cut the guard's throat from ear to ear, letting his blood pool on the floor, much to the shock of the others. He turned back to the other hostages.

"Which one of you is it?" he growled.

"We won't be intimidated by you!" huffed Warden Sharp indignantly, "You filthy degenerate!"

"Oh really, Sharpie, let's see if you can back those words up, then." sneered Terminal, advancing on Sharp with the knife.

Sharp's face turned pale, his eyes widened behind his glasses, he wasn't really that brave. He opened his mouth to plead for his life, only for Terminal to place the edge of the knife under his throat.

"Wait, Carter don't!" cried Dr. Young, tears streaming down her face, "We'll tell you, just don't kill anyone else."

"What's the fun in that?" asked Terminal in a sinister voice, as he took his blade away from Sharp's throat and advanced on Dr. Young. Harley put her the muzzle of her gun to Dr. Young's head.

"Tell us which palm it is, doc?" she snarled, "Or I'll give this room a new, red, paint job."

"Get away from her, you psychotic bitch!" growled Cash.

"Shut up, Cash!" roared one of Terminal's goons, brutally backhanding Cash on to his back.

"Please, Harley." said Dr. Young, her hands in front of her face, "Only the Administrator Director can access Extreme Isolation, okay."

Terminal and Harley turned their attention to Dr. Arkham who just glared back at them.

"Open it up then, Arkham." said Terminal, flashing the knife into the doctor's face.

Arkham stared up at Terminal and Quinn, before quietly saying, "No."

"What did you say?" asked Harley, utterly surprised at Dr. Arkham's answer, "Cause it wasn't funny."

"I said no." stated Dr. Arkham.

"Sir, I think it would be in your best interest to reconsider this." said Professor Strange.

"No, this is my Asylum, I am in control, not these freaks!" raged the usually calm and quiet Dr. Arkham, "We'll not be bullied into doing anything for them."

"I see." answered Professor Strange, as he adjusted his glasses and looked at Terminal.

"How have you been, Carter?" he asked, "It's been awhile since our last session together."

"I've never been better, Professor." said Terminal, with another smile, "I feel like I've finally reached my true potential, I get to make the world smile and burn at the same time, just like you always told me I could."

"I can see that." said Professor Strange, calmly, _"And for this, I must consider phase 1 a success, time to move on to phase 2."_ said his thoughts.

Terminal turned back to Dr. Arkham. "Well, I was kind off hoping that'd be your answer." he said with a sadistic grin, "Because I don't need you to cooperate to get your palm, hold him down boys!"

Two hulking Jokerz goons roughly grabbed Dr. Arkham by his shoulders and forced him down on his stomach, with right arm reaching out. Terminal stood over it raising the knife.

"Remember what I said about dismemberment." he said, "For once, I wasn't kidding."

"Yeah, do it, do it." squealed Harley in delight.

Dr. Arkham didn't struggle, he just stared calmly into Terminal's manic eyes, "Do your worst."

Terminal was about to bring the knife down, and sever Dr. Arkham's hand, but before he could the door leading into Extreme Isolation suddenly opened startling everyone. To their surprise, all the goons that Terminal had left to guard the entrance to Extreme Isolation were all strung out over the floor, unconscious. Terminal's eyes narrowed in fury, there was only one person who could of done this.

"Batman!" he roared, turning to his goons, "Find him, but I want him alive, bring him to me so I can finish him off."

"Yes, sir!" the goons answered and seven exited the Extreme Isolation Unit to search for the Batman, leaving Terminal, Harley, and the two goons holding down Dr. Arkham behind.

"Uh, Termie?"asked Harley, "I don't think that's such a good idea, B-Man tends to eats guys like those for breakfast, plus Mr. J said that no one's allowed to take out B-Man except..."

"Can it, Quinn." snapped Terminal, cutting her off. "I know what I am doing."

He looked down at Dr. Arkham, stepping on his wrist, and raising the knife again.

"Oh yeah, where were we?" he said, but before he could lop off the doctor's hand, he heard a sharp whirring sound, right before a Batarang slammed into his wrist, and knocked the knife out of his grasp.

"What the?" was all he could say, before a gloved fist smashed into his face, knocking across the room.

Harley shrieked in surprise as Batman appeared before them. After he' gotten the password for the door (which was PSYCHOS) he'd quickly grappled back to the gargoyles before anyone could see him. As expected, seven goons had immediately come through, looking for him. Batman waited until they'd passed and quietly glided into the Extreme Isolation Unit., right as Terminal was about to cut Dr. Arkham's hand off. He'd quickly put a stop to it.

Harley tried to aim her assault rifle at Batman, but he was too quick. He lashed out with his leg, knocking the rifle out of her hands. She swung at him, but Batman caught her punch, and countered with a palm strike to the chest. Harley stumbled, but was able to back flip away, putting separation between her and the Dark Knight.

"Oh, you don't, B-Man!" she shrieked, "You won't get in the way of setting Mr. J free!"

Terminal stood up, and glared angrily at the Dark Knight who stood before him , fists clenched, and eyes narrowed.

"You can't stop me!" he rasped, "My victory is at hand, I am going to kill you, and present your head to The Joker as a gift!"

"It's over!" ordered Batman, "Give up."

"Never!" roared Terminal, picking up his knife, and motioning to his two goons, "Let's get him."

The two goliath like thugs let Dr. Arkham go, and charged at Batman, bowling ball like fists ready to flatten him into paste. Batman ducked under the fist of the first, and powered a jab into the goon's midsection, winding him. But the other goon was able to get behind him, and wrap his tree trunk like arms around his midsection in a crushing bear hug, holding him in place.

"Hold him still." sneered the first thug, cocking his fist for another punch.

He let the fist fly, but Batman was able to block it with his right leg, and then catch him with a good kick to the jaw with the left. Batman then snapped his head backwards, nailing the thug who was holding him in the nose, breaking it. The thug cursed in pain, letting Batman go, and putting his hands up to his ruined nose. Batman turned on him and hit him with precision strikes to the torso, and the jaw, and then turned his lights out by brutally smashing his face into the floor. The other thug lunged at him again, but Batman side stepped him, and slashed his arm with the fins on his gauntlets. Then he hit a spin kick that hit the goon in the jaw, taking him down. Batman took a deep breath, but then sensed another presence behind him. It was Terminal, he came at him with a quick low to high swing with his knife. Batman, surprised by Terminal's quickness, stepped to the side to avoid the strike. He avoided the worst of it, but it still scratched his armored chest plate, leaving a long, white scratch. Terminal then followed his attack with a quick left jab, that actually caught Batman off guard, catching him just enough in the chin to make him stumble.

"I going to gut you like a pig!" snarled Terminal, holding the blade of the knife in front of him in a defensive stance.

Batman took a fighting stance too, fists up, and feet staggered, "Just like you gutted Thomas Rollins."

Terminal just laughed, "No, what I do to you is going to be ten times worse than what I did to that pathetic punk ass street rat."

He came at Batman with a quick slash, but Batman blocked using the fins on his gauntlets, and countered with a knee to the solar plexus. Terminal was forced back, but his rage only grew. He roared in anger, and came at Batman again, this time looking to plunge the blade into Batman's chest. But the knife just glanced off of the armor, and Batman proceeded to hit Terminal with a brutal palm strike to the cheek, and followed it with kick to the midsection, and a spinning back fist to the jaw. Terminal went down, but Batman wasn't done. He picked Terminal up, and slammed him hard into the steel wall, and followed with a few swift kidney punches. He flipped him on to the ground, and slammed his jaw with a hammer punch.

"That was for Rollins." snarled Batman, "Your done, Wilson, give it up, you're outmatched."

Terminal glared up at Batman, blood coming from his mouth, one eye swollen shut, "You won't win" he coughed.

While this was going on, Harley Quinn had retrieved her dropped assault rifle, and was now aiming it at Batman.

"Time to die, B-Man." she muttered, her finger tightening on the trigger.

That was when Aaron Cash made his move. He and the other hostages had been watching the fight, with Young, Sharp, and Arkham looking for the best moment to make a run for it, Cash looking for the best opportunity to help, and Strange just sat there studying it, paying particularly close attention to Batman.

"Batman, watch out!" Cash shouted, as he tackled Harley.

Her rifle went off, the bullets going over Batman's and Terminal's head, but the distraction was enough to allow Terminal to lunge at Batman, tackling him to the ground, and landing a few shots to head as he did. Cash and Harley wrestled for control of the gun, his hook tearing into her prison uniform, cutting her skin, and making her cry out in pain. It was at this time, Dr. Young came to a decision.

"Let's make a break for it." she said, pointing to the two guards they were with, "If we can make it to the Security Control Center, we should be safe."

"Yes, yes!" said Warden Sharp desperately, "That sounds like a great plan, lets get out of here, before I die!"

"You mean before we die." said Dr. Arkham calmly, glaring at the cowardly Warden.

"Uh,yes, of course, sir." stammered Warden Sharp, correcting himself.

Dr. Young looked to Professor Strange who was still observing the fight, "Come on Professor, we must..."

"Go on ahead of me." the professor said, cutting her off. "There is something that I must attend to."

"But Professor." protested Dr. Young.

"Don't argue with me, Dr. Young." ordered Professor Strange, "I'll be fine, just go."

Dr. Young just shook her head, motioned to the others to follow her, and led them out of the Extreme Isolation Unit. Strange watched them go, a small smile on his face. Good, now that they were gone, he could do it. He looked at the palm scanner for the Extreme Isolation Unit's Prisoner Cells, the scanner that only Dr. Arkham could open, reaching into his pocket for something.

Cash managed to get his hook around the barrel of Harley's gun, and yank it out of her grip.

"Your going back to your cell, Quinn." said Cash angrily.

"Try and make me, Cripple Hand." retorted Harley.

She lashed out with a high kick that caught Cash in the side of the head, taking off his feet. She picked up the rifle again, this time aiming it down at Cash. Batman slugged Terminal with a right cross, knocking him down, but happened to see Harley take aim at Cash.

"Cash!" cried Batman, readying a Batarang to knock the gun out of Harley's hand.

But before anyone could do anything, an electronic horn sounded, and the door to the Extreme Isolation Unit's Prisoner Cells began to slide open.

"No!" cried Cash, his face turning pale, "How's that possible."

"Yes!" cried Terminal from his spot on the ground, "Triumph!"

The doors slid open, and out walked a man in an orange Arkham brand prison jump suit. He was tall, very tall, his skin bleached completely white, his short, bright green hair slicked back, his garish red lips curled up in a cruel smile, but what was most frightening about him was his eyes. They were dark green, bloodshot, and had such a maniacal look in them, that even the toughest man would be terrified. Of course, his reputation was enough to do that. He was feared all throughout world, and especially in Gotham, his deeds so horrifying, it would give you nightmares to describe them all.

"Joker." growled Batman as he laid eyes on his arch nemesis.

The Clown Prince of Crime's smile grew even bigger, and he started to laugh, a sound that sent chills up the spine of anyone who heard it.

 **NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: With that, I must end part 2. Sorry for the cliffhanger.**

 **To be Continued**

 **Next Episode: Chasing the Clown**

 **Comments Appreciated**


	3. Major Announcement

**MAJOR NEWS!**

 **Black Sector 5 here with a major announcement regarding the future of the Guardians of Gotham series. This was my first story on this sight, and I had a lot of big ideas at the time. The whole story was basically a giant stew of DC Comics, Law and Order, The Shield, Blue Bloods, and several other detective shows ranging from the well known, to the obscure. While at the time, I thought the idea was great, the first story however wasn't. It had some plot holes, it was a little too unrealistic even for a fiction story, and I had no idea how I wanted it to end. I had trouble coming up with a good ending, which is why this story has sat with no updates for as long as it has. I focused on developing my other projects like the Heroes of the Universe, and my Star Wars-RWBY crossover (Expect Updates on them soon, especially you Winx Club fans), but my original Batman centered story was always on my mind.**

 **I am a hard core Batman fan, and with every thing going on in the comics and with the Gotham TV series, my desire to create Batman stories has come back. So I am announcing that I am rebooting the Guardians of Gotham with a new premise and new main story. No longer will it be a crossover of Batman and other cop shows. Instead it will focus on a Batman whose been active in Gotham for about five years, and his creating of a team to cleanse the city of crime. We will also focus on his partnership with Commissioner Gordon, the cases of GCPD Detectives like Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya, and an overarching main plot. A lot of the content will be original stories mixed in with classic Batman stories adapted from Detective Comics, Gotham Central, and the Gotham TV series.**


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